DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 343 811 SE 052 ell

AUTHOR Pittelman, Susan D.; And OthersTITLE The UMC Guide to Documentation. A Report from the

Urban Mathematics Collaborative (UMC) DocumentationProject. Program Report 91-2.

INSTITUTION Wisconsin Center for Education Research, Madison.SPONS AGENCY Ford Foundation, New York, N.Y.PUB DATE May 91NOTE 164p.; For related documents, see ED 333 088-089, and

SE 052 799-810.PUB TYPE Clides - Non-Classroom Use (055) -- Tests/Evaluation

Instruments (160)

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC07 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS *Cooperative Programs; *Documentation; Educational

Cooperation; Elementary Secondary Education;Evaluation Methods; Information Processing;Mathematics Education; Mathematics Instruction;*Measurement Techniques; *Program Evaluation;Surveys; *Teacher Attitudes; *Urban Education

IDENTIFIERS *Urban Mathematics Collaborative Project

ABSTRACTThe Urban Mathematics Collaborataive (UMC) project

has the goal of contributing to the improvement of mathematicseducation in the inner-city schools by identifying models to enhancethe professional lires of teachers and encouraging the entry of highschool mathematics teachers into a larger mathematics communityincluding mathematicians from higher education and industry. Thisguide shares some of the insights and the instruments that werecreated to document the benefits of the project and to help the UMCCollaboratives to carry on their own documentation efforts. The guidecontains five sections. Section I describes the UMC project and therationale for the guide. Section II explains why documentation isimportant, and distinguishes it from evaluation. Section III setsguidelines for establishing a documentation plan. Section IV gives anoverview of the UMC documentation project that includes methods ofdata collection, a detailed description of suclosted monthly reports,a description of the electronic network linkiag the collaboratives,large-scale surveys, demographic surveys, site visits, special UMCfunctions, and case studies. The Appendixes include monthly reportforms, sample evaluation forms for activities, questions from theDiary of Professional Rraationships, large-scale surveys, anddemographic surveys. (MDH)

**********t***************x********************************************Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made

from the original document.***********************************************************************

076

8 Wisconsin Center for Education Researchw School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison

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U.S. DEPARTMENT Of EDUCATIONOffice of Educr.tional Research and Improvement

EDUCATIONAL. RESOURCES INFORMATIONCENTER !ERIC)

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TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCESe INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)."

May 1991Program Report 91-2

The UMC Guideto Documentation

Susan D. Pittelman, Norman L. Webb,Elizabeth M. Fadell, Thomas A. Romberg,Allan J. Pitman, and Marilyn Sapienza

A Report fromthe Urban Mathematics Collaborative (UMC) Documentation Project

'IMMMEEMM,

2 BEST COPY AVAILABLE

Program Report 91-2

THE UMC GUIDE TO DOCUMENTATION

Susan D. Pittelman, Norman L. Webb, Elizabeth E. Fade 11,Thomas A. Romberg, Allan J. Pitman, and Marilyn Sapienza

Report ofThe Urban Mathematics Collaborative (UMC) Documentation Project

Wisconsin Center for Education ResearchSchool of Education

University of WisconsinMadison, Wisconsin

May 1991

The research reported in this paper was supported by the Ford Foundation and by theWisconsin Center for Education Researck School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do notnecessarily reflect the views of the Ford Foundation or the Wisconsin Center for EducatwnResearch.

The UMC Guide to Documentation is dedicated to the

On-Site Observers

of the

Urban Mathematics Collaborative Documentation Project

for their willingness to ask questions so that

others may learn from the answers.

Dan BennettRichard CurdSugan Floore

Rosemarie KavanaghJoyce NeffJoanne PamperinBetty PeckJames Richmond

Rita Ross

Robert SeitzGerry Sell

Del SpicerSue StetzerDonald ThompsonSharon WhitehurstAldonia Winn-Belton

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Figures

Page

:

I. INTRODUCTION 1

II. WHY DOCUMENT? 3

Documentation Versus Evaluation 4

Making a Commitment to Documentation 5

III. ESTABLISHING A DOCUMENTATION FLAN 7

What to Document? 7

A. Context 8

B. Project Management 9

C. Collaborative Activities 11

Who Will Document? 14

Formalizing the Data 17

A. Context 18

B. Project Management 19

C. Collaborative Activities 20

Organizing the Information Collected 21

Creating An Annual Report 24

Evaluating the Documentation Plan 27

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Page

IV. AN OVERVIEW OF THE UMC DOCUMENTATION PROJECT 29

Methods of Data Collection 30

Monthly Reports from the On-Site Observers 32

A. Context Diary 33

B. Additional Comments 35

C. Project Diary 35

D. Diary of Professional Relationship 40

E. Impact of the Collaborative 50

Electronic Network 50

Large-Scale Surveys 50

Demographic Surveys 53

Site Visits 33

Special UMC Functions 54

Case Studies 55

The UMC Annual Report 56

V. A FINAL NOTE 59

REFERENCES 61

iv

APPENDIXES

A. Monthly Repod Form

Co i+er

Context Diary

Additional Commments

Project Diary

Activity/Conference Form

Grant/Scholarship Form

Diary of Professional Relationships

Impact of the Collaborativt

B. Sample Evaluation Forms for Activities

C. Questions from the Diary of Professional Relationships (by topic)

D. Large-Scale Surveys

Secondary Mathematics Teacher Questionnaire:

Teacher Background Survey

Teacher Survey. Survey on Teacher Professionalism

Teacher Survey III: Survey on Mathematics Conceptions

Teacher Survey IV: Follow-Up Survey on Teacher Professionalism

E. Demographic Survey 1989-90

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure

Page

1. Context Diary as completed by an on-site observer 34

2. Context Diary as completed by an on-site observer 34

3. Additional Comments Form as completed by an on-site observer 36

4. Additional Comments Form as completed by an on-site observer 37

5. Project Diary as completed by an on-site observer 38

6. Project Diary as completed by an on-site observer 38

7. Activity/Conference Fe-m as completed by an on-site observer 41

3. Activity/Conference Form as completed by an on-site observer 44

9. Activity/Conference Form as completed by an on-site observer 46

10. Grant/Scholarship Form as completed by an on-site observer 49

11. Impact of the Collaborative Form as completed by an on-site observer 5

12. Impact of the Collaborative Form as completed by an on-site observer ci

13. The National Network of Urban Mathematics Collaboratives 60

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I. INTRODUCTION

Documentation plays a key role in the growth and development of a project. It

provides an opportunity to collect data and to synthesize the information in a way that will

guide the further development and management of the project. Documentation provides a

basis upon which project participants can make informed decisions by using the

information that has been collected, become reflective through self-analysis of the data,

and promote roject goals and accomplishments by sharing the reports of what it does.

The Ford RhulgiAtion initiated tile Urban Mathematics Collaborative (UMC) project in

1985 to improve mathematics education in inner-city schools and to identify new models

for meeting the ongoing professional needs of teachers. Between February, 1985, and

September, 1986, the Foundation awarded grants totaling over $6 million for the

establiFtment of mathematics collaboratives in eleven urban sites: Cleveland, Durham, Los

Angeles, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis,

San Diego, and San Francisco.

The Urban Mathematics Collaborative (UMC) Documentation Project, under die

direction of Professor Thomas Romberg at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, fulfilled

an important role in the UMC project through collecting, managing, and interpreting data

to record the development and operation of each of the collaboratives, and by providing a

broad perspective of the UMC project as a whole. The high value placed on

documentation over the five years of the project was a significant factor in tracking the

success of the individual collaboratives and integrating their achievement into a coherent

record of the total UMC project.

Documentation of the UMC project began during the earliest planning phase and

continued throughout the evolution of each of the eleven original collaboratives. Although

formal data collection by the UMC Documentation Project ended June 30, 1990, the need

for documentation continues, as each project works to sustain its momentum independent

of Ford Foundation funding.

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During the documentation process, the staff of the Documentation Project has been

enriched by the diversity and commitment of the Urban Mathematics Collaboratives. We

have developed a more thorough understanding of documentation procedures and gained a

greater appreciation for the importance of thorough documentation. In the process, we

have created a number of instruments for collecting data.

This guide has been created in order to share some of the insights and the instruments

that have evolved out of this five-year project. Our motivation for developing the guide

derives not only from the value that we place on documentation and our strong belief in

the benefits that a project can gain during the documentation process, but from requests

on the part of the collaboratives for guidelines to assist them in carrying on their own

documentation efforts. It is our hope that the discussion and information that follows will

prov*Jde that guidance.

II. WHY DOCUMENT?

Documentation provides a comprehensive record of a project's history, development,

decisions, and impact. As a result of this information base, it fosters insight into the

processes that produce change, the impediments that block progress, and outcomes. It is

the documentation process that generates the hard data necessary to review and to evaluate

a project's components and to study their relative effectiveness.

Incorporating a documentation component signifies a firm commitment to the project's

value and indicates that participants recognize the project's worth and the importance of

maintaining a historical record. Documentation carl be used as a management tool, making

information accessible that is valuable for decision making. This helps to ensure that past

mistakes are not repeated and that beneficial outcomes are noted.

The information collected through documentation can be of benefit to the

collaborative's administration or governing bodies in making decisions regarding the

collaborative's target audience, the needs of the teachers, the development of the project

budget, and the formation or restructuring of committees, as well as in measuring the

success of activities and determining how programs may improve v better meet the needs

of teachers. The information can also serve as a basis for reviewing the project's

accomplishments, evaluating its progress in light of its goals, and determining the future

course of action. The documentation component also plays an important role in

responding to the reporting requirements of funding agencies.

An essential component of documentation is syntnesizing the information gathered into

a written history, or an annual progress report, to provide a complete picture of a project's

developmen* over the course of an entire year. The very process of creating an annual

report forces collaborative members to review and to reflect on what happened during the

year and to try to put these events into perspective. Furthermore, a series of annual

reports provides a complete written history of a project's development. The availability of

a narrative report that provides information about the collaborative from the time of its

establishment has been especially valuable when major changes in collaborative staffing

have occurred. The Annual Reports to the Ford Foundation provided an historical base as

well as perspectives for the use of new collaborative administrators. In addition, because

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4

changes may occur slowly over time, a series of annual reports provides a project with an

opportunity to trace the development of a key initiative or outcome from its beginning.

An important element in collaboration is sharing information with others. Because of the

number of groups involved in a collaborative effort, keeping everyone informed and

cultivating the interest of potential participants can be a large undertaking. Not only do

the Annual Reports provide a tool that is useful for self-evaluation, but they can serve as a

vehicle for disseminating information to the business and higher education communities

and to the media, as well as to other boards or groups. The dissemination of information

about a collaborative serves to strengthen the community support that the project receives.

Documentation Versus Evaluation

In the context of a documentation plan, a distinction is frequently mad(

between documentation and evaluation. Rather than being seen as two distinct

procedures, documentation and evaluation actually can be considered as different points

on a single continuum. Documentation establishes a record that serves as the basis for

understanding what is occurring within a more historic context. The emphasis in

documentation is on providing a comprehensive picture, whereas evaluation is used to

judge and place a value on what has happened. When an individual begins to step back to

make judgments and to determine whether a project is meeting its goals, the fine line

between documentation and evaluation is crossed. Both documentation and evaluation

have been important to the development of successful collaboratives in that each provides

information that is critical in making decisions about the future as well as substantiating

requests for new or continued funding and support.

Documentation involves collecting a wide variety of data, through both formal and

informal methods. The information collected is then synthesized and used to develop an

understanding of the project's evolution and function. Part of the record that a

documenter maintains on a project may be drawn from studies designed by others to

evaluate the project. Topics that have been addressed in studies conducted by evaluators

of specific collaboratives have included: the collaborative's success in met..ting goals, the

effectiveness of individual programs, collaborative impact, and student outcomes that can

be attributed to the collaborative. While this type of information is useful for

documentation purposes, it provides only a small part of the overall picture. A key focus

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5

of the documentation effort is to probe beneath the surface for candid perceptions from

participants about the collaborative to try to determine whether the collaborative is

meeting their needs and expectations. Granted, this is very difficult to do and can be

accomplished only if there is trust between the documenter and the members of the

collaborative project. Comfortable and productive exchanges will not occur if the

documenter is perceived as making judgments about what is said or done. Teachers will

be reluctant to open their classrooms to an observer if the observer is perceived as an

evaluator rather than a documenter. The open expression of feelings about the internal

process and the motivational forces acting on both project members and nonmembers, as

well as the willingness to reveal weaknesses, will be shared only if it is believed that the

documenter is trying to understand and report, rather than to judge what is being done.

Making a Commitment to Documentation

Although potentially expensive, the documentation process can be made both efficient

and cost effective. The most important condition of success is a strong level of

commitment to the project's Documentation Plan on the part of both the collaborative

administration and its formal governing bodies. This Documentation Plan should include

(1) the goals of the dotumentation effort, (2) the areas to be documented and the sources

from which the information will be gathered, (3) a description of the personnel who will

oversee the documentation effort and who will collect the information; (4) the procedure

for formalizing the documentation, (5) the method for storing and accessing the

information collected, (6) the process through which the information will be synthesized

into an annual report, and (7) the procedure for evaluating the Documentation Plan to

determine whether the collaborative is collecting the information that it needs.

III- ESTABLISHING A DOCUMENTATION PLAN

Ideally, the original proposal to create a collaborative would include a plan for

documentation. Even in cases in which a collaborative has been in operation for a year or

longer, it is advisable to develop a Documentation Plan. The first step in establishing the

Documentation Plan is to identify clearly the purpose of the documentation effort and to

set realistic goals for achieving it. The more explicitly articulated the reasons for

documentation, the more responsive the documentation effort can be to the collaborative's

needs. It is important that the goals established for the process reflect the needs of the

people who will be using the information and the way in which they will use it.

What to Document?

Identifying the purpose of the collaborative's documentation effort will serve as a

guide in determining what information to collect and how to col:ect it. It will also help in

deciding how the information should be organized after it has been collected. If the

collaborative is receiving funds from an agency that requires regular progress reports, the

funder's requirements must be taken into consideration when the documentation

procedures are established. For example, an agency may require information on the

project's impact on teachers by grade level (i.e., elementary, middle school, high school).

Consequently, a report on the number of people who have attended project-sponsored

events should include a breakdown of participants by the grade level they teach, thereby

affecting the type of data that will need to be collected.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to anticipate all information needs ahead of time, nor

is it possible to identify in advance all of the uses for the information being collected.

Sometimes, a need for specific information will arise that was not anticipated. For these

reasons, the Documentation Plan should be as comprehensive as possible, within the

constraints of the time and money available.

After the purpose of the documentation effort has been defined, the next step is to

develop soLrces of information. A plan for basic documentation should encompass three

main areas: (A) the context in which the collaborative project is developing, (B) project

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8

development and management, and (C) collaborative activities. Implementing the

Documentation Plan involves collecting data continuously throughout the life of the

project in order to describe what is happening within the project as well as what is

occurring in the surrounding context that may affect the project.

A. Context

Each collaborative is influenced by the community in which it exists. It is therefore

important to understand community context to get a clear understanding of the

collaborative itself. It is quite common for political, economic, or social changes in the

area to have an effect on the collaborative. The arrival of a new school superintendent,

for example, can have a direct impact on the working environment of district teachers and

students, as well as on the district's mathematics program. Furthermore, in many school

districts, the superintendent is instrumental in determining the !evel of the school district's

financial or in-kind contributions to the collaborative. The election of new members to a

school board can have a similar impact. The adoption of a schcol district budget, the

negotiation of a new teacher contract, or the initiation of a plan for teacher layoff, will all

directly affect collaborative members, and consequently, the collaborative project itself.

Some school districts in which there are Urban Mathematics Collaboratives in the process

of evaluating a merger with other districts; the outcome will certainly affect the

collaborative. New state legislation also can have an impact on a collaborative, whether

the legislation is in regard to a change in high school graduation requirements, teacher

certification, the establishment of an optn enrollment policy, or a career ladder program.

Other factors that can affect a collaborative are a change in school district policy such

as the structure of the school by grade level, the procedure for assigning teachers to

schools, or the establishment of new mathematics initiatives. The availability of other

opportunities in the community for the professional development of teachers, including

the presence of an active local professional organization for mathematics teachers and

programs offered by local colleges and universities, will influence the types of programs

that are offered by the collaborative. Incentive award programs sponsored by community

groups or area industries can make an impact on both students and teachers. Changes in

major ce-vorations located in the area can affect the collaborative, especially if a

representative serves on the collaborative's governing board, or if the industry is either a

9

source of financial support to the collaborative or has made a corporate grant to the school

district. As a result of the it.lpact of these factors on a collaborative, it is important that

the Documentation Plan include a procedure for gathering ongoing information about the

economic, social, political, and professional context in which the collaborative operates.

Information of importance in documenting the contextual environment of a

collaborative may include, but would not be limited to, the following areas: school board

elections; political issues affecting the schools; changes in administration or key staff;

changes in school policy or curriculum that would affect mathematics teachers; adoption of

city, school district, or other relevant budgets; election of city officials; negotiation of a

new teacher contract; changes in state legislation affecting teacher certification, graduation

requirements, mathematics curriculum, or the overall education of students; the opening or

closing of a major industry; and the availability of professional development opportunities

for teachers. Sources of this information might include newspapers; district newsletters or

memos; school board minutes; newsletters from teachers unions or from professional

mathematics organizations; reports from universities, busikgesses, district and collaborative

administrators, principals, and teachers; and announcements of mathematics-related

activities.

Information about the teacher and student population being served by the project, as

well as about the school district(s) involved, can also be useful in developing a more

complete understanding of the collaborative project. If this type of data is not readily

accessible, a survey requesting formal demographic information can be sent to

participating school districts. The types of information requested could consist of data on

the school district including district budget information, the number and grade levels of

the schools in the district, teacher and student profiles by gender and ethnicity, and

student test results.

B. Project Management

The second area of basic documentation involves the development of the collaborative

and its operation. It is bencficial to keep records of how the project is administered from

its onset. Being able to trace a governing structure or a policy to its beginnings adds a

valuable perspective when current governing structures or policies are being evaluated.

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As part of documenting project management, information should be collected on each

meeting of the collaborative's governing bodies as well as on all committee meetings. It

should include announcements of the meeting, the agenda, :,tAutes from the meetings of

subcommittees, and copies of handouts that were distributed. Other important meetings

attended by collaborative representatives should be documented as well, including key

meetings with schuol district personnel, with funding agencies, and with members from

the business, industry, or higher education communities, as well as with other members of

the UMC network. An effort should be made to gather information at any meeting or

gathering of people at which the collaborative is represeated and during which actions are

taken, through either formal discussion or informal networking, that may affect the

project.

In monitoring the development of a collaborative and its project management, it is

important to record information about any expansion of the target population, whether it

is in terms of numbers of schools or grade levels of the teachers. The information should

include why the expansion took place as well as information about specific procedures that

were followed and the time frame in which they occurred. It is also important to keep a

record of any solicitation or commitment of corporate funds as well as any partnerships

that are established through the collaborative.

Records need to be kept of all changes in administrative staff. Information about the

search and screening process for applicants to staff positions should include position

descriptions. Changes in the composition or membership of a collaborative's governing

board(s) also need to be noted. If members were added to a board for a specific

reason--for example, as part of an effort to give teachers greater responsibility for the

collaborative or to attract a new funding agency--this information should be included in

the documentation. In addition, copies of documents that are key to the operation of the

collaborative should be collected. Project budgets, by-laws for a collaborative governing

body, proposals that the collaborative submits, or contracts into which the collaborative

enters with other agencies, should be colic 'Id.

The collaborative coordinator can be a ,,aluable source of information regarding

project management and should help to ensure that the documenter is aware of and has

access to developments, events, and materials that impact on the management of the

project. A good working relationship between the coordinator and the documenter is

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extremely important; the full cooperation of the coordinator will make the documenter's

work more accurate and complete.

C. Collaborative Activities

In general, documenting the collaborative's activities involves keeping an ongoing

record of each activity, including what happened, when it happened, who participated,

and participants' short-term as well as long-term reactions. Information about grants and

scholarships that collaborative teachers receive should also be included in the record-

keeping of collaborative activities.

Since it is not always clear which activities are specifically "collaborative" activities, it

is recommended that documentation be provided for all events in which the collaborative

or collaborative teachers played a role, whether the collaborative actually sponsored the

activity or only publicized it, or simply funded teachers to attend. The activities that need

to be documented may include such events as workshops, site visits, grant writing

seminars, receptions, retreats, dinner meetings, teachers' attendance at regional and

national conferences and institutes, school district inservices, participation in curriculum

committees, summer internships, and grant offers. It is quite possible that an activity that

the collaborative did not sponsor, but rather only funded teachers to attend or helped to

publicize, will have a significant impact on teachers and consequently merit

documentation. Therefore, when in doubt, it is better to gather the information at the risk

of overdocumenting. Often it is difficult to judge the relationship of the collaborative to

an activity until many months after the fact, when it is possible to look back in time and

determine whether the event did in fact have an impact on collaborative members.

While the type of information that is recorded may vary with the type of activity, it is

helpful to develop a form on which to record basic information. This information should

include:

the name of the activity;

the role of the collaborative project (Did the collaborative plan, sponsor,

co-sponsor, fund, publicize, and/or support participants to attend? Specify the

name of the organization that sponsored the event, if the collaborative did not.);

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a brief description of the activit) (topic, speaker/affiliation, date/time, location);

the purpose of the activity;

attendance at the event (Record the total number and include an attendance list, if

available. Designate participants by affiliation, i.e., collaborative or non-

collaborative teachers, by grade levels; collaborative staff; representatives from

business, higher education, and the district. Who was invited? Was attendance

limited and, if so, how were participants selected? Include the documenter's

opinion of whether the level of attendance was as anticipated.);

forms of compensation or support received by teachers (i.e., stipends/travel

funds/registration fees, classroom materials, continuing education credit, or release

time; and who paid substitutes);

participants' immediate and delayed reactions to an activity, as well as the

documenter's impressions.

The form may need to be updated periodically as the Documentation Plan is evaluated, to

ensure that the necessary informa:ion is being requested. (The Activity/Conference Form

in Appendix A was developed by the UMC Documentation Project to record information

about events or activities.)

Gathering firsthand comments from teachers about an activity is very important. In

requesting this feedback, the documenter should explain to teachers that their names are

not being recorded--only their comments. In addition to obtaining teacher reactions, it is

also important to solicit reactions from participants representing the business and

university communities, since they often have a totally different perspective.

Furthermore, it is useful to have the documenter who conducts the interviews record his

or her own impressions of the event as well as his or her perceptions of the comments

made by others. If the meaning of a comment is not clear, the documenter should ask the

partkipant to clarify it, rather than to try to interpret it on an intuitive basis. The

reactions of the documenters are important because their impressions provide a more

complete picture of the activity from different viewpoints.

Getting feedback about an activity can, at times, be difficult. If at all possible,

participants should be interviewed at the conclusion of the event or activity, while the

experience is still fresh in their minds. However, if participants are unavailable for on-

the-spot interviews, a telephone interview can be scheduled. Providing the documenter

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with a list of the names of collaborative members and their work and home telephone

numbers will facilitate this effort. If at the end of the activity the collaborative distributes

evaluation forms that have space for open-ended comment, the information on these forms

may serve as an alternative to teacher interviews, although we have found that greater in-

depth information can be gathered through personal interviews. Furthermore, it is often

difficult to get people to return a completed evaluation form. Different situations will

require different methods of collecting information. In general, the more direct and

immediate the contact, the more reliable the data. An underlying principle in

documentation is to make the process as convenient as possible for those persons who are

providing the information.

For some activities, it is helpful to conduct follow-up interviews several months after

the event to determine whether it had an effect on teachers' classroom instruction. It is

one thing for teachers to comment at the end of a workshop that they received many good

ideas they can implement in their classrooms, but quite another to learn several months

later whether the impact of their experiences reached the classroom. Finally, regardless of

the time frame and objectives of the documenter, it is important to let participants know

why you are seeking information and how it is going to be used. This usually helps people

to feel more comfortable in sharing their impressions.

In addition to recording basic information about the activity and participants'

impressions, the documenter should collect related print material, such as flyers,

invitations, articles in the collaborative newsletter, copies of completed evaluation forms,

and a set of any materials that were distributed at the activity. Such supplementary

documents help to provide a more thorough understanding of the event.

In addition to documenting collaborative activities or events, a record needs to be

maintained of collaborative grant programs as well as assistance offered collaborative

teachers in applying for financial support from some other agency. As in the case of

documenting an activity, it is helpful to develop a special form for recording information

related to grants. The type of information to be gathered might include:

the name or type of grant;

the source of funding;

the purpose of the grant program;21

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the total dollars available and the range of individual grants; /

the role of the collaborative project (e.g., Did the collaborative publicize the

availability of the grant, or offer teachers assistance during the application

process?);

a description of the application process (Who was eligible to apply?

What did teachers have to do to apply? When were the applications due?

How many teachers applied?);

a description of the selection process (Who selected the winners? What were the

criteria? When were the awards announced?);

grant award information (How many teachers received grants and what were the

amounts received? What were the foci of the winning proposals?);

the immediate reactions of grant recipients (How did the collaborative assist in the

grant award process? What will the grant be used for?)

retrospective reactions from grant winners (How has the grant award

influenced the recipient's professional life and affected classroom instruction?)

It is also beneficial to collect related materials, including announcements of the

grants/scholarships, application forms, and lists of recipients. The Grant Scholarship

Form in Appendix A was used by the UMC Documentation Project to record information

about grant awards.

Who Will Document?

Deciding who will take the responsibility for documentation will depend on many

factors. Some collaboratives may identify one person to handle all documentation, while

others might choose to appoint sumone to coordinate the effort and select a limited

number of people to collect the information. Another option is to establish a

documentation subcommittee of the governing board or teachers' council. In this case,

however, a chair should be designated, so that the ultimate responsibility for

documentation lies with one person. The eleven original UMC projects might also

consider retaining the on-site observer from the UMC Documentation Project to continue

the routine that has already been established.

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While a documen ter may volunteer his or her time, it is strongly recommended that

either a formal contrict or a job description outlining the responsibilities of the position

be drawn up and that a provision for compensating the documenter be incorporated into

the collaborative's Documentation Plan. Regardless of whether the compensation is a

salary, a stipend, continuing education credits, or another form of payment, it serves to

recognize the documenter's time and commitment to the responsibility for documentation.

In choosing documentation personnel, it is important not to spread the documentation

responsibilities among too many people. .Effective documentation will require training in

the procedures that are established. Documenters will become more proficient as they gain

experience. As they attend a wide variety of colle,orative activities, they will develop a

broader and more complete perspective of the collaborative. This will aid them in

becoming better documenters.

If several people are to share the responsibilities for dmumentation, it will be most

efficient if each person "specializes" or focuses his or her attention on a specific area of

documentation. That is, one person can be assigned to document Context; another, Project

Management; and a third, Collaborative Activities. Some collaborative3 may consider

assigning two or three documenters to cover project activities, especially if there are a

number of activities geared to specific grade-level audiences. In this situation, a

collaborative may consider assigning one person to report on activhies for elementary

teachers, another for activities oriented to middle school teachers, and a third to report on

activities for high school teachers. However, it will be necessary to coordinate documenter

assignments carefully to ensure that all activities are covered, since not all events will have

a specific grade level focus.

While the assignment of documenters to specific areas helps to define each

documenter's responsibilities and avoid duplication ..)f effort, it does have drawbacks. By

focusing data gathering on one specific area (Context, Project Management, or

Collaborative Activities), each documenter develops a somewhat limited view of the total

collaborative. Since an important part of the documentation process is to reflect on

everything that has happened during the year and to try to put these events into

perspective, it is important that the documenters meet periodically to share their

perceptions with one another and that all documenters become involved in either writing

or reviewing the annual report.

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The person(s) selected to do the documentation could be teachers, retired teachers,

collaborative staff, board members, or people outside the collaborative, such as graduate

students from a local university. An advantage in using people from within the

collaborative is that they already will have established a level of rapport with the teachers.

Furthermore, if the documenters are either former or current mathematics teachers, they

will be more likely to identify important issues in their conversations with teachers.

It is important that the documenters are available to attend programs and events that

the collaborative sponsors or promotes. It also is advantageous for a documenter to be at

all meetings of governing bodies and collaborative committees in order to keep abreast of

collaborative activities and developments in collaborative management. Gathering

information first-hand allows for the most accurate and complete documentation, since

documenters need to gather data informally through conversation, as well as from written

materials. However, it may not be possible for a documenter to attend every event. If a

documenter can not be at an activity, he or she should be responsible for arranging for

someone else to be at the event to collect information.

In addition to availability, other criteria for selecting documentation personnel should

include being responsible and well organized; having the initiative to actively seek

information; possessing good written and oral communication skills; and feeling

comfortable and confident interviewing teachers, administrators, and representatives of

business and higher education, as well as attending board and committee meetings.

Whoever is selected should be made aware that the person wi.o served as the UMC

Documentation Project on-site observer can be a valuable resource.

Responsibility far documentation should not be assigned to the collaborative

coordinator. Documentation is a time-consuming task that requires concentrated,

systematic attention. The administration of a collaborative is a full resoonsibility in and of

itself. Furthermore, collaborative coordinators play a key role in their projects and tend to

have a high level of personal commitment to the collaborative. In addition, concern for a

coordinator's personal feelings may inhibit a collaborative participant in giving a totally

honest assessment of a situation. A documenter, therefore, needs to be perceived as

having a relationship to the project that is qualitatively different from that of the

coordinator. Looking to others to assume the responsibility for documentation provides an

sortunity to involve a greater number of people in the collaborative. Recruiting

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teachers, other collaborative staff, board members, or reaching outside the collaborative to

graduate students from a neak oy university can bring a variety of perspectives to the

documentation effort that enriches the process.

It is beneficial to provide all collaborative participants with an overview of the

project's documentation efforts, including a brief introduction to the local documenter and

his or her role and function. Providing such an introduction makes it easier for the

documenter(s) to approach collaborative participants for personal interviews; it also makes

collaborative members more comfortable in responding to questions, since they are aware

of the documenter's responsibilities as data gatherer and reporter rather than as

interpreter. One collaborative successfully accomplished this by including an artille about

the documenter and her responsibilities in the collaborative newsletter.

Formalizing the Data

As data are collected for the sections on Context, Project Management, and

Collaborative Activities, the documenter(s) should prepare narrative descriptions that

incorporate the relevant information. These reports provide an ongoing record of the

development of the collaborative. They also can serve as a valuable management tool,

providing the collaborative's governing bodies with information on which to base

decisions. In addition, an ongoing system of formal reporting ensures that at the end of

the year the project is not left with a mass of unprocessed data. Information that is

organized and consolidated on a periodic basis will be easier io access and utilize.

A great deal of flexibility is possible in establishing the system by which the

documenter(s) formalize the information collected. A major consideration must be

whether the documentation effort is to be carried out by a single person or by a

subcommittee responsible to a "documentation coordinator." The documentation process

can function smoothly in either situation, as long as there is good communication within

the collaborative.

As discussed earlier, bnsic documentation information encompasses three main areas:

A. Context, B. Project Ma lagement, and C. Collaborative Activities. Data collection in

each of these areas should by, ongoing and concurrent.

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A. Context

Information regarding context should be collected on a continuous basis. It is

important, however, that at the end of a specified time period, such as at the end of each

month, the documenter summarize the information, thereby providing an up-to-date

record of events in the economic, social, political, and professional environments that

impact on the collaborative's development. Throughout the month, when anything occurs

that may affeez ate collaborative, the documenter should make notes and maintain a file of

relevant articles or news items. At the end of the month, the documenter should review

the materials and write a narrative documenting each event. It is helpful, in tracking the

information, to give each narrative that describes an incident or event a descriptive title

("Reorganization of District Curriculum Office," "Teacher Contract Under Negotiation,"

"Project 2061"). This serves a dual purpose: first, the heading acts as an advanced

organizer for the material; and, second, it aides in retrieving information related to a

specific topic.

A documenter may write the narrative description at the time of the event. However,

waiting until the end of the month provides the opportunity to put the event within the

total context of what has been occurring. Sometimes incidents or events that are

anticipated may not occur, or may not have the significance that was originally expected.

Furthermore, writing about each event as it takes place may prove to be too time

consuming, and, in the long run, the documenter might find it more efficient to write the

context narrative on a monthly basis.

The documenter should acknowledge all sources used in preparing the write-up and

attach any relevant articles or other backgrwind information to the report. Each month's

compilation of narratives should be dated and the name of the documenter indicated. The

report, along with accompanying materials, should then be filed in a folder that is dated

by the month (and year) of the narrative report.

In subsequent months, the documenter may create a totally new set of narratives, or, if

some of the topics or issues are the same as for a previous month, the documenter may

supplement a previous report by adding an update. For example, if additional information

appeared regarding a reorganization of the district curriculum office that took place the

previous month, the documenter might simply update the previously written description

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instead of writing a completely new narrative. If this approach is taken, it is

recommended that the documenter date each supplementary narrative or ar aunt. While

this process is most efficient when a documenter prepares his or her m. .atives using a

computer with word-processing software, the procedure can be ace* .oplished without a

computer. Keeping the context narrative current makes it et), er to synthesize all of the

context information at the end of the year. Whether independent monthly narratives are

prepared for each month or narrative descriptions are continued from month to mrnth, it

is essential that original sources of information be clipped to the narrative report.

B. Project Management

As with the data for Context, information regarding Project Management should be

collected continuously and then summarized periodicallye.g., on a monthly basis. At the

end of each month, the documenter should develop a comprehensive list or index of the

important actions or accomplishments related to the collaborative's development or

menagement ("New Coordinator Hired," "Corporation Awards Funds to Collaborative,"

"Outreach Action Grant Proposal Submitted"). The index should also include the dates of

important meetings that occurred during the time period. In addition to creating an index,

the documenter should write a narrative to describe each specific action or development.

A separate narrative should also be prepared for each key collaborative committee meeting

that was held during the month. It is suggested, however, that the documenter write the

meeting report as soon after the meeting as possible. The report should summarize the

documenter's perceptions of the meeting and, when appropriate, include reactions from a

sample of participants. This narrative should be attached to the agenda for the meeting

along with any materials that were distributed. When the minutes of the meeting are

printed, the documenter should add a copy to the report. If no minutes were taken at the

meeting, the narrative should include a list of those who attended, issues discussed, actions

taken, and any other significant information. It is important that the name of the

documenter as well as the date the report was written be included on each narrative.

The narratives for events that affected the development or management of the project

can be organized by month, with a separate folder designated to hold the narratives for

ea:h month. The folder from each month should contain an index of all of the actions or

accomplishments related to the development ot management of the collaborative, as well as

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the narrative that describes each of these events. In addition, a separate folder can be

created for each key collaborative governing body or committee (Governing Board,

Teacher Advisory Council, Program Committee). The folder would contain all of the

narratives that describe the meetings of that committee as well as pertinent materials, such

as minutes of meetings and handouts.

C. Collaborative Activities

As in the case of the Project Management narratives, a documenter should write the

narrative that describes a specific collabotative activity as soon as possible after the

activity. The narrative report should ideiAtify the event, its date and location, the role of

the collaborathfe, the names of organizations that sponsored the activity if the

collaborative did not, the purpose of the event, a description of the program, a breakdown

by category of the people who attended the event and how they were selected, whether

teachers received compensation, and participants' comments about the activity. In

addition, it is beneficial for the documenter to include his or her personal reactions to the

event. As with the other narratives, the documenter should sign and date the report. For

;ome activities, the documenter will conduct a follow-up interview several months later to

determine whether the activity had a direct impact on teachers' classroom practices. The

documenter will need to expand the narrative by describing what, if any, impact the

activity has had. Whenever a narrative is updated, the documenter should note the date on

which the new information was added.

Each activity narrative can be filed in a separate folder. All related pieces of

information, such as invitations, evaluation forms, handouts that were distributed at the

event, newsletter articles, and the activity report form on which the information was

originally recorded, should be filed in the folder along with the narrative.

Narrative reports should also be written about grant activity--awards or scholarships--

whether the collaborative administered them directly or assisted teachers with the

application process. Information in the report would include the name or type of

grant/scholarship, the purpose of the grant, the total amount available, the range of

individual awards and the source of funding, requirements for eligibility, application

information, information on the way in which the collaborative publicized the availability

21

of the grants/scholarships, information about the selection process, the collaborative's role

in offering teachers assistance in applying, the number of teachers who applied, the

number who received grants/scholarships and what they were used for, and comments

from recipients. Relevant materials, such as grant announcements, application forms, and

the list of recipients, should be clipped to the narrative report. As with the other activity

narratives, the documenter may need to expand the report at a later date, adding a

paragraph to indicate the impact of the grant award or scholarship.

In addition to preparing a narrative description for each activity and grant award, it is

helpful for the documenter to develop a chronological listing or master index of all the

collaborative's activities and grants. This index serves several purposes. First, it provides

a quick overview of collaborative events, as well as a system for organizing the

information. For convenience in accessing information, each activity in the index can be

assigned a unique identification number that will appear on the narrative description of

the activity, as well as on the label for the folder that contains the information for that

activity. Second, the index provides a checklist to remind the documenter to obtain

feedback on an activity after several weeks or months to determine whether it had an

impact on classroom instruction. The master index, which will continue through the entire

year, should be updated when each narrative is written.

Organizing the h:ormation Collected

Successful documentation requires a well-organized system for storing and accessing

the information collected. A filing system needs to be developed that ensures that the

information is easily accessible. There are, clearly, many different ways that the data can

be organized and filed. The system will vary according to the goals, areas of

documentation, personnel, and procedures for formalizing data collection that are set forth

in the collaborative's Documentation Plan.

The location of a project's documentation files may depend on whether one person is

hired as the project's documenter, or whether the responsibility is being shared among

several individuals. If the responsibility is assigned to a single person, it is advisable for

that person to maintain the documentation files in a place that is convenient for him or

her. It is important, however, that the project coordinator (or other designated person)

. I I2 9

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regularly contact the documenter to ensure that the documentation responsibilities are

being met, that the information is readily accessible, and that the documentation files are

being kept current.

If documentation is the responsibility of several persons, it is probably better to

maintain the files in a location that is central to the collaborative. Depending upon the

collaborative's staffing, it may be most efficient for the collaborative secretary or

administrative assistant to maintain the files in the collaborative office. The

documenter(s) wauld then submit reports to the secretary to be filed, keeping a copy of

the narrative for later reference. In this case, it will be necessary to determine how often

the documenter(s) should submit information. It has been recommended that the

narratives for context information be prepared at monthly intervals, whereas the narrative

to document a specific activity be written as soon as the activity has taken place and all

follow-up information has been gathered. It is important to specify deadlines for

submission, whether it is a set date each month when information is due, or within a

certain time frame following an activity. Whoever coordinates the documentation effort

needs to verify that information is being submitted in a timely manner.

A filing system for reports submitted by the documenter(s) can be organized into three

separate sections: one for Context, one for Project Management, and a third for

Collaborative Activities. If a collaborative's Documentation Plan has identified other areas

to be documented, additional sections should be designated for storing this information as

well.

The first section of the file could hold Context information. A separate "monthly"

folder can be created for the written narratives and accompanying materials that the

documenter submits each month. If the documenter was directed to implement the

"update" approach (i.e., incorporating, when appropriate, information about a topic from a

previously written narrative rather than preparing a totally new narrative on the same

topic), in any given month the documenter might be filing both updated narratives as well

as narratives introducing new areas of contextual information. Under this system, it

would be worthwhile to create a separate file folder for each updated topic. The

remaining narratives submitted that month could then be filed in a single folder labeled by

month and year.

23

A second section of the file could hold information related to Project Manager..

This section should contain a folder for each month, filed in chronological order. The

materials in each month's folder would contain the list or index of the dates of

collaborative meetings and of actions and accomplishments that impacted on the

development of the collaborative during that month, as well as the documenter's narratives

describing these actions and accomplishments. As suggested earlier, a separate file folder

can be created for each collaborative committee that meets regularly (Governing Board,

Steering Committee, Program Committee). The folder for a specific committee would

contain the documenter's narrative reports for all of the meetings of that committee over

the period of a year, as well as copies of minutes, attendance lists, and other relevant

information. It is useful to create a new folder for each committee each year so that the

materials remain readily accessible. Separate folders could also be created to hold

significant documents related to the development of the collaborative, such as a project

proposal or by-laws.

The third section of the file would hold information related to Collaborative Activities.

Each individual activity (Calculator Workshop, Dinner Meeting) can be given its own

folder with an identifying label. The documenter's narrative report as well as all other

information pertaining to the activity would be filed in the folder (i.e., the announcement,

documentation report form, materials distributed, and any flyers or newsletter articles

related to it). The first folder in the Activity section of the file should contain the master

index of the project's activities and grants, which the documenter adds to each month. To

facilitate information retrieval, each activity on the index could be assigned a unique

identification number. The number, along with the date and name of the activity, should

be on the file folder label and on the narrative report submitted by the documenter. The

folders for each activity could be filed chronologically or numerically behind the folder

that contains the master index of activities.

The system for organizing and storing the data collected for documentation can be as

simple or as sophisticated as time and resources permit. Computer use can certainly

enhance a documentation effort. Both computer word processing software to create the

narrative descriptions and a data base program to organize and access the information

offer great advantages. Word processing programs enable a documenter to easily update a

narrative to incorporate new information and to maintain updated indexes of project

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events and activities. A computerized data base program provides an efficient way to

organize, process, and easily access the information that has been collected.

While it is essential to maintain a filing cabinet to hold the narrative reports and the

accompanying materials submitted by the documenter, having the information keyed into

a data base program provides the collaborative with a way to quickly retrieve the

information as needed. In using a data base, the information entered can be sorted and

retrieved on the basis of a varirty of categories created to reflect the collaborative's needs

for information. F'or example, categories (fields) for entering activities might include:

date of occurrence; activity type (workshop, conference, governing board, meeting);C-5

participants (by grade level, gender, ethnic background); speakers; and sponsors of the

event (the collaborative, school district, professional organization, higher education,

business). When evaluating past activities or planning future events, reports can then be

quickly and easily pulled according to specified criteria, such as within a designated time

frame (all activities conducted during the fall semester of 1990), by target population (all

activities attended by middle school teachers), or by type (all the workshops or all the

meetings of the governing board). This information, as well as a variety of other reports,

can then be used to make informed decisions about the collaborative.

The specific data base program that is used to manage the information, as well as the

types of information that is entered into the data base, will depend on the collaborative's

Documentation Plan as well as on the availability of computer resources and personnel.

While not a prerequisite for a successful documentation program, the use of computers to

facilitate the documentation effort is certainly worth exploring.

Creating An Annual Report

An annual report provides a comr tete picture of the collaborative's activities and

development over the year. The report may include a description of the social, economic,

political, and professional environments in which the collaborative is operating;

developments that have occurred in the collaborative's governing structure; project

activities; and the level of teacher participation in collaborative activities; as well as any

other features that the collaborative views as .ignificant. In addition to Ix ing a historical

record, the report should include the rationale for the events scheduled. The

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collaborative's Annual Report provides a means by which a project can trace its progress,

review its activities, and Nan for the future. The actual process of creating an annual

repoit requires the writer(t.) to review the entire year from a variety of perspectives,

thereby gaining an opp !rtenity for greater understanding of the evtAution of the

4oliaborative. A key part of the Annual Report, therefore, is a section that reflects on

vhat ;was occurred during the year and tries to analyze and give meaning to these events

and develo,ments. The focus of the observations and reflections will vary, depending on

the emphases of the project; however, the four areas addressed in the Observations section

of the Annual Report to the Ford Foundation prepared by the UMC Documentation

Project were Project Management, Collaboration, Professionalism, and Mathematics Focus.

In writing the Observations section of the report, all available information should be

reviewed before an effort is made to give this information meaning. As part of this

process, it is important to be as sensitive to what was na reported, what teachers did not

say, or what did net happen, as it is to be aware of what did happen. It is only natural

that much of the information collected through the documentation process will be written

in a way that presents the collaborative in a completely positive light. It is important,

however, that interpretations presented in the Annual Report are unbiased and yet are

written diplomatically and with sensitivity to the audience that is to read the report.

Information that is missing from reports can be indicative of a struggle that the

collaborative is going through or a void that it is experiencing. For example, a documenter

may report that teachers who attend collaborative events or participate in governing

committees greatly appreciated the opportunity to learn more about mathematics or to

network. No mention, however, may be made of reactions by representatives from

business, industry, and higher education. As a result, it might appear that the

collaborative is positively influencing teaches but has not yet developed a strategy to

involve the business and university communities. Since this is only one possible

conclusion, the missing (ir omitted) information must be verified with a documenter

and/or a member of the collaborative administration before the conclusion is reported.

Comments by teachers can be aa importint source of information when trying to

evaluate activities in light of the collaborative's goals. For example, teachers who are

interviewed several weeks after rt collaborative activity to determine whether the activity

has affected their classroom teaching may praise the workshop, but not mention any

26

impact that the program had on their teaching of mathematics. It may be concluded that

these teachers are pleased to have been given the attention as well as the opportunity to

attend professional activities, but that they did not incorporate the information from the

workshop into their classroom teaching of mathematics. Consider the following exchange:

Int Tviewer

Teacher

Interviewer

Teacher

"What did you gain from attending the workshop?"

"Oh, it was great! The best workshop I have attended.

I received many good ideas."

"How has it changed what you do in the classroom?"

"Oh, I have not been able to use any of the ideas because

I do not have the materials, and besides our curriculum is

already specified."

In describing activities of the past year, one might conclude that the activities were

successful because the teachers reported that they enjoyed them and got some good ideas

from them. However, if a collaborative goal was to effect a change in classroom

instruction, the activities may not be die complete success that they initially appeared to

be. In the workshop example above, no changes occurred in classroom instruction. The

teacher quoted encountered ideas that she liked, but other factors did not permit her to

modify the curriculum and incorporate these ideas into her classroom practices.

Consequently, collaborative leadership needs to relect on how to address these other

factors so that project goals can be accomplished.

In planning the Annual Report, it will be necessary to design a format that best meets

the needs of the people who will be using the information. In structuring the format of

the report, it may be helpful to refer to the collection of summary reports that have been

prepared by the UMC Documentation Project (komoerg & Pitman, 1985; Romberg, Webb,

Pitman, & Pittelman, 198 /; Webb, Pittelman, Romberg, Pitman, & Williams, 1988; Webb,

Pittelman, Romberg, Pitman, Fadell, & Middleton, 1989; Webb, Pittelman, Romberg,

Pitman, Middleton, Fadell, & Sapienza, 1990; Webb, Pittelman, Sapienza, Romberg,

Pitman, & Middleton, 1991).

As part of the procedure in preparing the Annual Report, one person may be

designated to review the information and write a first draft. The person who writes the

draft need not be the documenter. Another alternative would be to form a documentation

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committee to undertake this assignment. In either case, it is suggested that a draft of the

report be reviewed by the collaborative coordinator and/or director to check its accuracy,

as well as by other key collaborative members, including the documenters who gathered

the information. It is possible that the documenter, or the person(s) who drafted the

Annual Report, may not have correctly perceived a situation or may have misinterpreted

certain aspects of it. By verifying the information with the collaborative's decisionmakers,

it is more likely that a complete picture will be gained. Validation also serves the purpose

of requiring people to reflect on what has occurred. Reflection can frequently result in

beneficial insights regarding the collaborative's future course.

An accurate and complete Annual Report can be a valuable communication tool. It not

only serves to keep those within the collaborative informed of the wide variety of

collaborative activities, the governance of the collaborative, and important decisions that

are being made, but it is also useful when there is a change in collaborative staff. It serves

to orient new people to past goals and activities and helps them to understand the

developmental process the collaborative has gone through. The Annual Report is also a

powerful networking tool. It can be exchanged with other collaboratives, as well as used

to publicize the collaborative to the general public. Furthermore, a well-planned and

well-written Annual Report can be instrumental in attracting new funding sources.

Evaluating the Documentation Plan

The Documentation Plan will need to be evaluated periodically to detet mine whether

or not the collaborative is collecting all relevant and necessary information. Often the

actual process of synthesizing the information for the Annual Report is a good test of

whether the correct data has been collected over the year, thereby revealing the strengths

and weaknesses of the Documentation Plan. Developing an outline for the Annual Report

early in the year will enhance the possibility of creating a complete record. It is important

also to monitor the collaborative's documentation needs over the 'course of the year to see

whether these have changed. If they have, the documentation efforts will need to be

adjusted to fit the revised needs.

IV. AN OVERVIEW OF THE UMC DOCUMENTATION PROJECT

The Urban Mathematics Collaborative Documentation Project at the Wisconsin Center

for Education Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison was established by the

Ford Foundation in 1984, concurrent with the establishment of the initial five

collaboratives. The UMC Documentation Project, under the direction of Professor

Thomas Romberg, was charged with recording the progress of each collaborative as it

defined, refined, and redefined its focal concerns. The efforts of the eleven

collaboratives, as well as those of the Ford Foundation, merit study based on conscientious

documentation for three reasons:

(1) Each of the collaboratives, as well as the Ford Foundation, needed

to be kept informed about the development of the individual projects.

Ongoing collaborative strategies and activities, and the effects of

these on the professional lives of teachers and other project participants,

needed to be documented in order to be shared.

(2) It is important for each collaborative, the Ford Foundation, and the

educational policymaking community to understand the characteristics and

relationships inherent in individual collaborative projects. Because

change occurs over time, all of the activities that are carried out, the

actual changes in behavior, the anticipated outcomes, the unanticipated

outcomes, and the impediments encountered must be documented so that

they can be clearly identified and studied.

(3) Although it was expected that each collaborative site would be different,

it was believed that it would be possible to identify project activities,

problems, and strategies that could be generalized across the collaboratives

and applied to different settings. These generalizations have proven to be

especially important now that other sites are establishing mathematics

collaboratives. Furthermore, by encouraging mathematics teachers to act as

self-directed professionals, the collaboratives are generating strategies that

can be used with teachers of all subjects.

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In addition to collecting and synthesizing information for each collaborative, the

Documentation Project provided each of the collaboratives with a broader view of its place

in the overall UMC project. Over a five-year period, the UMC Documentation Project

served as a source of information about how other sites were dealing with similar issues

and provided advice on problems common to all sites. The staff of the Documentation

Project also provided professional expertise on issues in mathematics education when such

input was requested.

Methods of Data Collection

To perform a comprehensive job of documentation for the UMC project,

Documentation Project staff had to address the task from several different perspectives.

First, it was necessary to establish a mechanism to provide continuous data collection for

each collaborative. We needed an ongoing description of what was happening within the

project--of the activities that were taking place as well as changes that were occurring.

We knew that we also had to have ongoing information about the social, economic, and

political, and professional context in which the collaborative was operating, since we

recognized the effect that could have on the collaborative itself. Second, we needed to

develop instruments and procedures to probe specific issues or topics with collaborative

members. These topics were either identified at the local collaborative level or selected as

key issues for study throughout the UMC project. We believed that a specialist coming Li

from the outside would be able to see things from a different perspective and, by

judicious probing, reveal new insights on a particular issue. A third level at which data

collection was required was at gatherings of groups of people where the collaborative was

represented and where interactions took place that subsequently affected the project.

These types of gatherings occurred both at the local level (meetings of the collaborative

governing bodies, or meetings of the heads of key agencies within a city or district) as well

as at the national level (UMC meetings for members of all collaborative projects, or

gatherings at national conferences). Finally, we needed to find a means through which we

could share the information we had collected and the insights we had gained.

Consequently, we created a variety of procedures for data collection. To gather

ongoing information about the collaboratives, a documenter, or on-site observer, was hired

for each collaborative. The on-site observer submitted written reports monthly,

31

summarizing what had occurred. We also regularly monitored the information that was

sent over the electronic network that the UMC Technical Assistance Project sponsored.

To investigate specific issues at a deeper level, we administered four written surveys to a

subset of teachers. These surveys provided quantitative data and not only gave us

information about the teachers within a site, but enabled us to compare and contrast data

from the eleven collaboratives. In addition to the written surveys, we directed the on-site

observers to conduct interviews that probed specific topics. Members of the

Documentation Project made on-site visits to explore some of these issues in personal

interviews with teachers as well as with other collaborative members. These on-site visits

also pi ovided us with an opportunity to validate information that had been received from

other sources, to resolve questions that may have arisen from the data, and to enable

someone who was not directly associated with the collaborative site to gather data. It was

our intent that the members of the Documentation Project who made the visits were

perceived as persons who might offer a different perspective on issues of collaboration and

to whom collaborative members might freely express their thoughts. In-depth case studies

also were conducted involving one or two teachers at each collaborative site. These case

studies were conducted by on-site ethnographers under the supervision of staff of the

UMC Documentation Project.

To share our information and insights, each year the Documentation Project prepared

the Annual Report to the Ford Foundation. In the report, we not only reflected on the

UMC project as a whole, but a considerable portion of the report was dedicated to an in-

depth account of each of the eleven collaboratives.

An overview of the procedures that we developed specifically for data collection is

presented in this section along with explanations that we feel might be helpful to a

collaborative in its own data collection efforts. Examples of the dc.ta collection

instruments used are provided in the Appendixes. This information is not intended to

encourage a collaborative to duplicate our approach, but rather, is an effort to share the

tools and procedures that we found useful in documentation, Materials in the Appendixes

are presented solely as examples; each collaborative is urged to develop instruments to

reflect the goals set forth in its Documentation Plan.

It must be noted that the UMC Documentation Project was charged witE documenting

the development not only of the eleven individual collaboratives but of the LIMC Network

32

as well. As part of this effort, we created a formal data collection system that focused on

specific issues, such as teachers' conceptions of mathematics and teachers' views of

teaching as a profession. While we have included copies of these instruments in the

Appendixes, data collection of this type may well be beyond the scope of most individual

collaborative projects in terms of financial and personnel resources. The UMC

Documentation Project not only had the advantage of hiring an on-site observer for each

collaborative, but staff members of the Documentation Project at the University of

Wisconsin could bring an outside perspective to the sites that they visited. And finally, we

had a team of data analysts who had responsibility for organizing, analyzing, and

synthesizing the data we received.

The UMC Documentation Project developed seven main procedures for data collection:

monthly reports subn.Itted by the part-time on-site observer for each collaborative;

communications sent over the electronic network operated by the UMC Technical

Assistance Project at the Education Development Center (EDC); large-scale surveys

administered to teachers at each collaborative site, supplemented by teacher interviews

conducted by the on-site observers; demographic surveys to participating school districts;

site-visits conducted by UMC Documentation Project staff; in-depth case studies

involving a limited number of collaborative teachers at each site; and information collected

at special UMC functions.

Monthly Reports from the On-Site Observers

The UMC Documentation Project hired an on-site observer at each collaborative site.

The on-site observers received a 14 percent appointment from the University of

Wisconsin-Madison for 12 maithe a year, which averaged approximately 5 1/2 hours per

week. At most of the sites, the on-site observer was a collaborative teacher, although

retired teachers, a school district staff person, and an interested community member also

served as on-site observers. We felt that it was very important to have a documenter in

each collaborative--someone who could be in the community while the collaborative was

developing and could have "feelers" out continually.

33

To ensure that the collection of information was an ongoing process, each month the

on-site observer submitted a written report to the UMC Documentation Project. The

Monthly Report Form was comprised of five basic sections: A. Context Diary,

B. Additional Comments, C. Project Diary, D. Diary of Professional Relations, and

E. Impact of the Collaborative. The Monthly Report Form was reviewed periodically with

the on-site observers, and revised as deemed necessary and appropriate. A copy of the

Monthly Report Form is presented as Appendix A.

A. Context Diary

On this page of the Monthly R eport, the on-site observer reported important changes

or events that occurred in the school district(s) or in the community. The observer would

also include information on opportunities for professional development sponsored by other

organizations that were available to mathematics teachers. The type of information

reported in the Context Diary would include, but not be limited to, the following areas:

school board elections; political issues affecting the schools; changes in administration or

key staff; changes in school policy or curriculum that would affect mathematics teachers;

adoption of a budget; negotiation of a new teacher contract; changes in state legislation

affecting teacher certification, graduation requirements, mathematics curriculum, or the

overall education of students; and the opening or closing of a major industry. Figures 1

and 2 are completed Context Diaries as submitted by two on-site observers. (One of the

on-site observers entered the Monthly Report Form on his personal computer.)

Common sources of context information included newspapers; district newsletters or

memos; school board minutes; newsletters from teachers' unions or from professional

mathematics organizations; reports from universities, businesses, district and collaborative

administrators, principals, and teachers; and announcements of mathematics-related

activities. Copies of printed information were attached to the Context Report when

appropriate.

!!..,T I CuilTEXT D:ARY On-Site ObserverFebruary, 1990 Repo

In this section the Monthly Report please record any major changes or events that occurred in theschool district w in the community itself during the month of March. The information we areinterested or includes but is not limited to, tt following areas: school board elections, politicalissues affecting the schools, changes in administration or key staff, new school policies or changes incurriculum that would affect mathematics teachers, negotiation of a new teacher contract, the openingo; closing of a major industry.

Contest information might be contained la Inch sources as newspapers; district newsletter or memos;school bond minutes; teachers' union newsletters; and reports from universities, businesses,collaborative project and echool district administrators, principals, and leachers.

Meese attach newspaper articles or other printed information when available and, if appropriate,highlight information that y..m feel is most relevant.)

D,. Cod Robmson dected Woa)-(1.-Pke

Pitti.ch 3)4 titch'on will hAve. 2 bond s'sSve3

of OPSB on ballo'r

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4 1

PART I CONTEXT DIARY On-Site ObserverOctober, 1989, Mort Dan Bennett

In tate seetten ef the tieMbly Report plisses record ony motor cheeses orevents thst Hawed in the school district er in the community itself duringthe month of October. The infrostion we ere interested in includes, but isnet limited to, the following erases school board elections, petiticat Issuec

the schools, chigoe in administration or Rey staff, new Schoolpolicies or clones@ In curriculum thet would effect moth"ostics teschers,negetletise of a new teacher contrect, the swim) or closing of e ;osierindustry.

Context hWermation might be cordsined in such sources es nowspeeers:district newsletter or mimes; school Herd minutes; teschert newsletters;e nd reports from universities, businesses, collaborative project and'chest district administraters, principals, and teachers.

(Please attach nowspoper articles or ether printed information whenevellsble end, If oppreprlate, highlight information Met yog,feel Isreload. )

The most significant collect for the month of October in San Franciscomeasured 7.1 on the Richter Kee. The urthquate, combined with theglints four gsme loss in the World Series, made business as usualknpossible for anyone in Sas Francisco, including math teachersAbsenteeism, mainly attributable to the horrendota commute caused bythe temporery loss of the boy bridge, piA a major strain on the sibstituteteacher pool, leading the superintendent to Issue a memo @eking teachersnot to use personal Imre days. 008W (lused Out ey Weesesdri) was acondition much discussed ki the media affecting people who commute fromthe east bay, Including men teachers in the district.

Ths serthawke Eared *ring at open house for the district'c new Mathand Science Resource Center st PwtsIde. List Owortin, director of theMeth Collaborative, was heavily kwolved In planning thst event. Aboutf ifty people were in thet building, which had previously boon declaredIngle in the event of an earthatake and could not be used se a school forthst reason I %Mastoid It was a pretty terrifying place to be. Itsuffered deluge thst hss been deemed abort Iola, but thst doesn't look it.Some people have refused to come back to Parkside, where collaborativemeetings and game inservice activities as held

Milligan Lohman's home was seriously dwnaged, and the third calculatorArsharceelseard for Oct. 2_4. was cottoned

e solaced the con Francisco Ed Fund, the fund raising armof the collaborative. Their builling was condemned and they've moved toshore offices with Oa* of Nnerica Last I heard they hod not beenllowed to enter their building to retrieve important flies end equipment

so they were undid* to operate fully. As far as I know, this Welaffected the collaborative's wenitin non-quake news, the two teschers unions in San Frencisco f bullymerged in October, ending yeors of these grows putting more mew anresources Into lift Mg each other than into helping teachers The newWald Educators of San Frencisco (IIESF) will be in a much better positionto effect chive ks psblic schools here.

Figure 1. Context Diary as completed by Figure 2. Context Diary as completed by

an onsite observer, an onsite observer.

35

B. Additional COMM1110.

The second section of the Monthly Report provided the on-site observers an

oppc nity to share their own personal observations or insights about the collaborative, as

well m , laments or concerns obtained from others. The form was divided into six

sections to assist the on-site observers in focusing their observations around five key issues

that were of special interest to the UMC project A. Development of the Collaborative, B.

Permanence, C. Collaboration (among teachers and schools, as well as among members of

the higher education and business communities), D. Professionalism, and E. Mathematics

Focus of the collaborative. The sixth section on the form was for observations ar

comments that did not fall into one of the other five categories. Examples of the

Additional Comments section, as completed by two on-site observers, are presented in

Figures 3 and 4.

C. Project Diary

In the third section of the Monthly Report Form, the on-site observers reported

information on activities and grant offerings in which the collaborative played a role. On

the first page of the Project Diary, the on-site observer listed the names and dates of any

activities that the collaborative had schLduled for the future. Two examples of the first

page of the Project Diary, as completed by on-site observers, are presented in Figures 5

and 6.

Information about activities or events that had occurred within the month was reported

on either the Activity/Conference Form or the Grant/Scholarship Form. Three copies of

the Activity/Conference Form and one copy of the Grant/Scholarship Form were included

in each Project Diary. The on-site observers were instructed to duplicate the forms if

additional activities and grant offerings needed to be reported, although that rarely

happened.

Activity/Conference Form. Information about each collaborative activity or

confizence that occurred during the month was reported on a separate

Activity/Conference Form. On the first page of the form, the on-site observer recorded

general information about the event, including the name of the activity or conference; the

4 3

PART II ADDIlIONAL COMMENTS On-Site ObserverAesust. 1919 Report

This section of the Monthly Report can be used for say isformation which you went to shareism *is ow conveniently fit iMo the other parts of the Malik ly Report. This may includesuch isformation as commits or opisioas related to the collaborative made by Michels;priecipab; maihematicians from betimes. indessty, oe hishor education; paresis; etc. Or youmight have some personal observations sad insishts that would be valuable io us, or mestionsand issues you feel we should probe. (Do not feel compelled to orbs ow this pass, bet pleasedo report anything; that you feel would eahance our uedermandins of your collaborative.)

A Development of the Collaborathe:Jerome Burke has taken over the collaborative. He was one of the mathematics

supervisors before reorganisation. He has worked closely with thecollaborative and should do very good job.

B. Permanence (include who is lookins at permamme end how they are doingwhaismmessre beim' addressed.and what solutionsare beingsenerated.)

The permanence committee met twice. At the last meeting on August 26it was decided by the four of us present that Dr. Hyram would draft

the proposal. We will meet again on Sept. il to read and discuss the draftbefore it goes to the council on Sept. 20. The first proposal

should be ready In octoher. The final proposal is scheduled for Jan. (Srldad's

Art Department also made a big globe of the world.)

C. Collaboration:

44

(Continue on other side.)

D. Professionalism;Three towhees attended the IOC conference in Hassachusetis. The coordinator,

Anita Nadeon, and two other teachers --Gloria Clark and Kenvi Sheehan. I talked

with all three and they thought the conference was very valuable. The fourth

teacher, Gail Coleman. wee unable to go. A. a followup, Gloria, Benet and

Gail are going to attend the conference in Loe Angeles. The collaborative

will share rooms to help with expenses.

E. Math Focus:Pollowup on Veiled Prophet Fourth ot July celebrationa big tent was set up

on Sunday and Monday. The Hath-Sciences Iducation Center had a section

which we used. The magnet schools oleo had a section. Therm was a big

crowd and visitors to our booth were allowed to play 6 or 7 games. They

really enjoyed this. We aleo handed out brochures. According to all the

collaborative members who worked at the booth it was big success.

F. Other Comments:

Dr. Hymn seems to be an ex:ellent choice to aid the collaborative. Dr.

George Hyram is now Vico President Smoritus for Academic and AdministrativeAffairs at Harris Stowe State College. H. was teacher and an administrator

for many years in the St. Louis Public Schools. He also taught at

St. Louis University. H. is well known in the community--this should helpwith funding. I believe with his help we are going to be able to succeed

with permanence.

Figure 3. Additional Comments Form as completedby an on-site observer.

PART 11 ADDITIONAL COMMENTS On-Site Observerhnuary, 1990 Report

This section of the Monthly Report can be used for any information which you want to shareMat will not conveniently fit into the other ports of the Monthly Report. This may locludesuch information as comments or opinion relatod to the collaborative mode by Mockers;principals; mathematician from business. industry, or higher educatioa; quests; etc. Or youmight have some persoaal observation sod insights An would be valuable to us, or questionand Wyss you fool we should probe. (Do not feel compelled to write on this page, but pleasedo report anything that you feel would enhance our usderstanding of your collaborative.)

11a/ Atial

A. Develcfment of the Colliftwasivr

k Add ite e<hik ,etwithat mid ome--#PY

Mr7f, t .

IL Permanence (include who is looking at permanence and how they are doing it.what issues are being addressed, and what solutions are being generated.)

towa .

6Cratzli,e4446..4a,eda4; ne1441041.

Atr/A1414ki 77/10eldh 447*no dea zu/ t'i e 44,4, 74 17kal

,,ecit.td At; / 1.0 "Ire # eakied)

(Continue on other side.)

D. Professionalism:lit aonMak, if4 omit*

deNoweed424.: 90%,. moo

0/44if!A A(44ityou meaiNfraga., Ai; MO

imsad /Yel

Attila& deweat, " ..fd; /op

F. Other Comments:

Figure 4. Additional Comments Form as completed

by an on-site observer. 4 7

PART III PROJECT WARY 0o-Site ObserverApril Repon

Inforamtioa rowdies soy activities or sweats that were mended by sesmben of the colleborstive,or greats of flew& import should be recorded ia this section of the Moodily Report.

Please complete aa Activity/Cadmus Form foe each avast that occurred betweeo Saturday,April 1 sad &today, April 30. (Attach peimary sources of is(ormelloo whoa amiable, e.g.,anaouscemeals of madam wades, minutes, evaluatioo forms, meMeisla distribleed at a meeting.flyers.)

Pleas complete a Grant/Scholenhip Form foe say mum for which collabosative mockers applied.(Attach grant/scholankip aneouacemests, applicatios& sad lists of recipiests when available.)

Please list below Cho oases sad dates of say fidgm activities that lave bees scheduled.

Here is an invitation to a future steering committee meeting.

Also, on May 4 from 34575:15 pm there will be the final wine and cheese

reception at Buhl Science Center. Barbara Bridge is meeting with the.

Collaborative Liaison Committee on April 10 to finalise plans. After

that, invitations will be mailed out. There will be no speaker but theteachers will have an opportunity to tour the exhibits in the Science

Center.

48

Figure 5. Project Diary as completed byan on-site observer.

PART III PROJECT DIARY Oa-Site ObserverJune, 1990 Report

Informetioa reaardina say activities or sweats that were attended by members of the collaborative,or gnats of financial support should be recorded I. this sectio, of the Monthly Report.

Please complete an Activity/Conference Form for each event that occurred between Friday,hoe I aad Seturday, June 30. (Attach printery sources of informadoo whoa available,.g., anottacemeats of meetings, agendas, mistime, evaluation forms, materials distributed at amolls& flyers.)

Please complete a Grant/Scbolership Form for any rano for which collaborative teachers apPlind.(Attach glut/scholarship anaouncameats, applications, and lists of recipients when available.)

Please list below the names aid dates of any fowl activities that have been scheduled.

ACTIVITIES ARE LISTED BELOW. NO FLYERS ARE AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME.

July 5 Steering committee luncheon meeting. Susan Browning

from the board and a teacher at Northern in charge.

July 2-13 Contemporary pre-calculus workshop by NCSSM. DMC will

sponsor four members to attend.

July 16-20 wr:FF geometry institute. DMC will sponsor four members

,4 attend.

July 17 Board meeting

August 4-11 Statistics workshop--a DAC sponsored event led Uy

Cheryl Brothers.

September 7

November 10

DMC opening reception

DNC luncheonDavid Johnson speaker

NEWSLETTER AND sTEERING COMMITTEE MINUTES ATTACHED.

Figure 6. Project Diary as completed byan on-site observer.

OEST CCPY MAILABLE

49

39

role of the collaborative (in planning or funding the event, funding participants to attend,

A in publicizing, or co-sponsoring the event); the name of the organization that

sponsored the event if the collaborative did not; a brief description of the event (including

the name of the speaker or program and the date and time); the purpose of the event; and

a breakdown by category of the people who attended the eveht and how they were

selected. There was also a place to indicate whether teachers who attended received any

compensation (financial, classroom materials, continuing education credit, or release time).

The second page of the Activity/Conference Form provided a place for the on-site

observer to record firsthand comments from teachers about the activity. The on-site

observers were asked to interview five teachers following an activity and to accurately

record their comments. While suggested questions were included on the form, on-site

observers were encouraged to adapt their queries to the specific activity or event. If, at

the end of the activity, the collaborative had distributed evaluation forms that included a

place for written comments, the on-site observer often submitted these forms in lieu of

conducting the teacher interviews. (A sampling of evaluation forms that were collected by

the UMC Documentation Project are presented in Appendix B. It is not recommended

that these forms be used in place of teacher interviews, but they are included as an

indication of the various foci that can be used to document or evaluate an activity.)

On the third page of the Activity/Conference Form, the on-site observer recorded

reactions to the activity by attendees from the business and higher education communities.

On-site observers were encouraged to obtain comments from three representatives of

business or higher education. While it was often difficult for the on-site observer to do

this, their comments added a different perspective to the reports of an event. At the end

of the third page of the Activity/Conference Form, space is provided for the on-site

observer to record his or her own impressions of the event as well as perceptions of the

comments made by others. The reactions of the on-site observer were very helpful in

providing a more complete picture of the activity from yet a different perspective.

In addition to completing the Activity/Conference Form, the on-site observers were

asked to collect and attach other sources of information related to the activity, such as

flyers, invitations, articles in the collaborative newsletter, copies of completed evaluation

forms, and a set of any materials that were distributed at the activity. All of these

supplementary materials help to provide a more thorough understanding of the event.

5 0

40

Examples of Activity/Conference Forms completed by the on-site observers from three

collaboratives are presented in Figures 7, 8, and 9.

Grant/Scholarship Form. The on-site observer completed a Grant/Scholarship Form

whenever the collaborative announced a grant program or played a role in assisting a

collaborative teacher to apply for financial support from some other agency. On the form,

on-site observers indicated the name or type of grant/scholarship; the purpose; the total

amount available, the range of individual awards, and the source of funding; eligibility

criteria; application information; information about the selection process; how the

collaborative publicized the availability of the grants/scholarships; whether the

collaborative offered teachers who applied assistance during the application process; how

many teachers applied, how many received grants/scholarships, and what they were used

for; and lastly, comments from recipients regarding the collaborative's role in the process.

As with the Aotivity/Conference Form, the on-site observer was asked to attach relevant

information, including announcements of the grants/scholarships, application forms, and

lists of recipients. An example of a completed Grant/Scholarship Form is presented in

Figure 10.

D. Piga_d_EngelugnilLge_* lau_s_n hi

The Diary consisted of teacher interview questions designed to probe specific issues

that had been identified as being important to the UMC effort, although not every

Monthly Report contained this section. In most cases, the questions were created to

supplement information collected through the large-scale written surveys. Each Diary

contained an average of six questions. In general, the 1n-site observers were asked to

interview five teachers. They used their own discretion in selecting teachers to interview,

but were given guidelines for determining how the sample of teachers to be interviewed

was to be distributed among the following: teachers who were frequent collaborative

participants, occasional participants, nonparticipants, or a combination of the three groups.

A comprehensive list of the questions that comprised the Diary of Professional

Relationships, organized by the issue addressed, is presented in Appendix C. An example

of a Diary of Professional Relationships as it appeared in a Monthly Report can be found

in Appendix A.

P. 4

PART III PROJECT DIARYActivity/Conference FormFebruary, 1990 Report

On-Site Observer

A. Name of the Activity/Conference F. Attendance (Continued)TCMS Dinner Meeting The mailing list,

B. What was the role of the Collaborative Project? 2. Who was invited to attend/participate in the activity/conference?

x planned the eventfunded the eventfunded participantsto attendother (please specify):

x publicized the eventx sponsored the event

with another organization

C. If the Collaborative did not sponsor and/or fund the Activity/Conference,what organization did?

D. Brief description of the Activity/Conference

Speaker (include affiliation and topic) or Program:

Prof. Joe Konhauser - See attached announcement

Dete(s) end Times: Location: Macalester CollegeFeb. 5, 1990 - 5:30 reception

and Exhibit at Olin Hall - 6:30 Dinner Wyerhauser Hall

E. Purpose of the Activity/Conference (On which issues did the event focus?Why was the event held?)

Regular Dinner Meeting - Macaleeter hosted this tocelebrate rennovated facilities

3. If enrollment was limited, how were participants selected?

4. Was the attendance as anticipated?

Yes or perhaps better

G. Teacher Support

I. Did teachers receive any financial support, (i.e., a stipend;reimbursement for travel; registration fees)? no

If yes, please specify the type of support, the amount, and who provided it.

2. Were teachers given any other form of compensation, (i.e., continuing educationF. Attendance credits, classrwm materials)? no

I. How many (and who) actually attended? Total number 60 If yes, please specify.

30 Collaborative teachers 16 Representatives fromCollaborative director business or industryCollaborative coordinator is Representatives from higher

5 Non-collaborative teachers educationSchool administrators 3 Other (pleas* specify): me and I

retired business person who is avolunteer math tutor and 1 student.

(Please attach a list of attendees, if available.)

*4 of these are former studentsof Prof. Konhauser

(Continue on other side.)

r '2

3. Were teachers released from school in order to attend the activity/conference? no

If yes, were substitute teachers provided? no If so, who providedthe funding?

Figure 7. Activity/Conference Form as completedby an on-site observer.

Activity/Conference Form (Continued) On-Site ObserverFebruary, 1990 Report

H. kgegligulajhamaykyannt kliggekitg_whiliugeggel. We are intlrested in teachers'evaluations of the activity u well u its impact. Please interview five teachers andwrite direct quotes of their answers to questions such as:

1) Was the activity worthwhile?2) What were the strengths and weaknesses?3) Would you have changed anything?4) How will you use the information presented?5) How will this effect your teaching?

lushmel:

I enjoyed the problems. That is the main thing. Since I haven't

come for a while, I enjoyed seeing everyone.

Teacher sol:

Nice to meet

problems andcalculators.

this into my

new faces, especially college lcvel people. Enjoyed the

thinking skills involved. On the other hand, we have

Should we teach these problems? How do I incorporate

curriculum?

(Please record the comments for Teachers 3, 4, and 5 on the other side.)

)r Figure 7.

Icarinul

I enjoyed the mathematics. It was a fun talk.

Teacher sat

Could never duplicate those problems myself. I really enjoyed this.

Teacher 05:

Delightful sense of humor, good talk. But, are these thu problems

we should be teaching?

Activity/Conference Form as completedby an on-site observer (continued).

Activity/Conference Form (Continued) On-Site ObserverFebruary, 1990 Report

raignumnenklutaimium (Please write direct quotes and indicate theposition that the person holds, as well as th, role he/she had in the activity/event.)

I. Business person -Delightful - nifty program. Nice to come here. We do need thiskind of thing--We need to continue to do this.

2. Professor -Konhauser can just keep thinking of this stuff. He can think of4 or 5 problems for each one I can think of.

3. Professor -

It's time Konhauser had a chance to speak.He should have been invited long ago.

J. Yuur own impressions of the activitv/evegi

I. An evaluation of the activity in general (if you attended):This is a good dinner and meeting. Macalester did a very good job.See aached blue programs. This was part of a celebration forMacalester and the dinner was one event.

2. Your perceptions of the comments made by the attendees:

Accurate.

Figure 7. Activity/Conference Form as completedby an on-site observer (continued).

PART III PROJECT DIARYActivir y/Conference FormNoven ber, 1989 Report

A. Mole of the Activity/Conference

C 644u/fa-

On-Site Observer

B. Whit was the role of the Collaborative Project?

planned the event -- publicized the eventfunded the event sponsoved the eventfunded participants with another organizationto attendother (please specify):

C. If the Collaborative did not sponsor and/or fund the Activity/Conference,what organization did?

nyeI) Drier description of the Activity/Conference

Speaker (include affiliation and topic) or Program:

Date(s) and Times:

1/ /7 erfLocation: ipfiat &fa efeirWit7rOl./

V AC*4-1F Purpose of the Activity/Conference (On which issues did the event focus?

Why was the event held?)

F Attendance

I Dow many (and who) actually attended?

/1 Collaborative teachersCollaborative directorCollaborative coordinatorNon collaborative teachers

/School administrators

Total number /4

Representatives frombusinecs or industiy

Representatives from highereducation

Other (please specify):

417.4104t kott-ItUJ(Please attach a list of attendees, if availahle,)

(Continue on other side )

F. Attendance (Continued)

2. Who was invited to attend/participate in the activity/conlerence?

geadoutA71 /2-Aai4e., 44(14:404.xiA, tat4/44_,

3. If enrollment was limited, how were participants selected?

A/A

4. Was the attendance as anticipated?

G. Teacher Styport

I. Did leachers receive any financial support, (i.e., a stipend:reimbursement for travel; registration fees)?

If yes, please specify ihe type of support, the amount, and who provided it.

tl.thon,

2. Were teachers given any other form of compensation, (i e continuing e(lucationcredits, classroom materials)?

If yes, please specify.

3. Were teachers released from school in order to attend the activity/conference?

If yes, were substitute leachers provided? ...We, If so, %%fur pm oviirvirthe funding'

(14;11141'

Figure 8. Activity/Conference Form as completedby an op-site observer.

CCPY AVAILABLE

5 9

Activity/Conference Form (Continued)November, 1919 Report

On-Sile Observer - -

11 RucliogsloiheicilInly/r_Itylegdus_who_glIended We nre intelested in !cachets'evaluations of the activity t)s well as ill impact Please interview five teachers andwrite direct quotes of their answers to questions such as:

I) Was the activity worthwhile?2) What were Ihe strengths and weaknesses?3) Would you have changed anything?4) 110w will you use the information presented?5) How will this effect your leaching?

ne tWiiniAAt th4 "At fr-144,

iny wpitsbon ic404' Atif44 e.

'iti'''64A41 714. e/fie ie/x.4-21,

lit- /14r elavnttfaii. _it -pear&u 4e/f Aler.4/.

-1/mt tit "ste hieutt GenA4-#64/4tv. et/ /very

,,w44 tL y 'ete lett Ata,

but It& dkrata /frxdzia4.

Ilacher %19 /MI( /Aga, J'Iy.11- Stt7( J see".

dihmt)451t. Sueolfzux&IdAt,V Aida Aezt

labifm - M late Aett

7/4. Aetaienel,

Activity/Conference Form (Continued)November, 1989 Report

On-Sile Observer

I. Reactions from other attendees IpAhmtivilvIevent. Le.. Universityruffigankfgoolthorgininns (Please write direct quotes and indkaie thepmilion that the person holds, as well as Ihe rok he/she had in Ihe activity/event)

I.

2

I Your own impreIliom_of thurctiviivilvtni

I An evaluation of the activity in general (if you attended):

Your perceptions of the comments made by Ike attendees-

'Alonitt

Figure B. Activity/Conference Form as completedby an on-site observer (continued). f;i

PART III PROJECT DIARYActivity/Conference FormNovember, I989 Report

A. Name or the Activity/Conference

On-Site Observer

IBM sympns i ins

What was the role of the Collaborative Project?

planned the eventfunded the eventfunded participantsto attendother (please specify):

AL_ publicized the eventsponsored the eventwith another organization

C If the Collaborative did ot.!; sponsor and/or fund the Activity/Conference,what organization did?

IBM

1) !trier description of the Activity/Conference

Speaker (include affiliation and topic) or Program:

Elayne Schulman, IBM (Math Sof tware

Date(s) and Times:

Nov. 21 rl!lo - 6,00

for the future)

Location:

Hofbrau Haus Restaurant

Purpose of the Activity/Conference (On which issues did the event focus?Why was the event held?)

Hew t echnology was discussed and displayedvideo display presentat ion was given using IBM software

Computer and

Attendance

I How ninny (and who) actually attended? Total number 125

lls Collaborative teachersCollaborative director

1 Representatives frombusiness Of illdllsiry

1 Collaborative coordinator 2 Representatives 1111111 higher

1 Non collaborative leachers educationSchool administrators 2 Other (please specify)

62

math supervisor and speaker

(Please attach a list of attendees, it nvailahic )

(( ontinue on Other side )

F. Attendance (Continued)

2. Who was invited to altend/participaie in the activity/cmderence?

All secondary math teachers from the cleveland school system

3. If enrollment was limited, how were participants selected'

4. Was the attendance as anticipated?

Yes. - Better than anticipated, in fact

feacher Support

I. Did teachers receive any financial support, (i.e., a stipend,reimbursement for travel; registration fees)? nu

If yes, please specify the type of support, the amount, itI who provitled it

2. Were teachers given any other form of compensation, (i , continuing educationcredits, classroom materials)? no

If yes, please specify.

Were leachers released 111)111 scl1001 ill Mdef 10 1111elld ac11111V!

conference') 00

It VN. wCte WIOINg pM6(1.""the funding?

Figure 9. Activity/Conference Farm as completedby an on-site observer.

II co kilo) poi% Ord

Activity/Con(erence Form (Continued) On-Site ObserverNovember. 1919 Report

II Reactiom to the activity/event by teachers who attended. We are interested in teachers'

evaluations of the activity as well as its impact Please interview five teachers and

write direct quotes of their answers to questions such as:

I) Was the activity worthwhik?

2) What were the strengths and weaknesses?

3) Would you have changed anything?

4) How will you use the information presented?

5) How will this effect your leaching?

leacher 4

Yes, it was worthwhile, but we need money for the software shown.Strengths - related how graphing can be used in everyday life.Weaknesses - difficult to see the screen.

No changes.

I will try to use the graphing ideas in Algebra.Affect on teaching--It will make it more interesting for thestudents and myself, not so abstract.

Inghtti.20

It could have been better, but it was worthwhile.The location could have been better.strengths - good food.Weakness dimplay was not goad for people sitting in the back.also there were no handouts.

The room, and there shoOd have been more hands-on experience.If we get the software, I will use it.

I could use it in algebra.

(Please record the comments for Teachers I. 4. and 5 on the other side

6'1

Teacher 03:

I think that the presentation was too idealistic. All teachers

do not teach in schools where this new technology is readily available.I would have liked to see more examples given for the basic studentsinstead of just the upper level classes.

I would use the software if I had the equipment necessary to run it.

legihniAr

It was goad, but I would have broken it up into two groups.

I would use this if it were available.Strengths - food, collegiality, programWeakness - too many people

It did hot affect my teaching now, because it was above the levelthat I teach.

Teacherml:

The food and location was good, but the presentation was only fairI could not see the screee, so I lost much of the impact We

should have been able to have more hands-on practice with thecosiputer but I realize that would be impossible in the settingprovided.

Figure 9. Activity/Conference Form as collvletedby an on-site observer (continued).

Activity/Conference Form (Continued) On-Site Observer

November, 1989 Report

I Renti0111 ham qther attendees to the nraykyjevent. Le . Universityfidenors. (took from Business (Please write direct quotes and indicate the

position that the person holds, as well as the role he/she had in the activity/

event.)

I.

I liked it. The presentation was good and I think that it

helped the teachers. (mathematics supervisor)

3

1. ypur own imoressions of the acfivityleven(

An evaluation of !he activity in general (if you allended):

The dinner was excellent and the presentation was very good.I was glad to see a presentation using the new technologythat teachers will soon be using.

2 Your percepfions of the commenn made by the attendees'

I think that the teachers were impressed and were able toso. what is available as far as new technology ie concerned.I don't think that many of the teachers present had everused a computer with a display pane) and it was geod forthpm io See it in action.

Figure 9. Activity/Conference Form as completedby an on-site observer (continued).

PART III PROJEC1 DIARYGrant/Scholarship FormMarc% 990 Report

On-Site Observer

A. Name or type of grant/scholarship: G. How did the collaborative publicize the availability of the grants/scholarshipe?

Professional Development Workshops

D. Purpose of the grant/scholarship:

To allow teachers to share special talents and expertise with colleagues

C. Total amount available li,zoo Amount (or range) of individual grants 300 to 500

Who provided the funding?

Pew Charitable Trust and Chevron through PRISM, Math/Science Collaborative

D. Who is eligible to apply? Teachers from the School Dtstrict of Philadelphia

who teach science, mathematics or computer science

E. How and when do ter.nt rs apply? (Please attach application form, if available.)

Program wan piloted in spring of 1989, with applications due for pilot

program January 28, 1989.

Through the Philadelphia Math Science Collab. calendar/newsletter.

d the collaborative offer assistance to teachers applying for grants/scholarships (i.e., grant-ating workshops, individual consultation, clerical support)? If yes, please specify.

Help individually

I. How many collaborative teachers applied?

How many received grants/scholarships?

What were they specifically used for?Activities for Math in Applications ClassesAlgebra coursewareDeveloping Tomputing SkillsFocus on CeometryComputing SkillsLive animals in the classroom

(funds used for leader stipend, refreshments, and materials forparticipants to implement activities in classroom)

12

6

F. Who selects recipients?

PRISM staff (at request of PRISM Teacher advisory committee who J. Please list comments from granth;,-olarship recipients regarding the collaborative's role in theinitiated the program). grant/scholarship process.

What criteria are used?value of topic to curriculumwell defined objectivesprogram that clearly meets its stated objectives

When are the awards made?

February 28, 1989

(Continue on other side.)

Cc')

Figure 10. Grant/Scholarship Form as completedby an on-site observer.

50

E. lataagislihgLallgtmatia

The final section of the Monthly Report provided the on-site observer with an

opportunity to focus on the impact that the collaborative has had on teachers. The on-site

observer was asked to identify an action taken by the collaborative that had impact, and

then to describe the action and the impact that it had. To assist the on-site observer in

identifying collaborative impacts, the form included the statement, "If it weren't for the

collaborative, would never have happened . . ." The on-site observer was

asked to reflect on the events of the past month and, when appropriate, complete the

sentence. Figures 11 and 12 are examples of the Impact of the Collaborative section as

completed by two on-site observers.

Electronic Network

The electronic network operated by the Technical Assistance Project at the Education

Development Center for members of the UMC project was an important source of

information and communication. The network, which originally employed Common

Ground and then in 1989 upgraded to The Bread Board System (TBBS), was open to

members of all the collaboratives, as well as to experts in fields related to the focus of the

UMC effort. In addition to providing an opportunity for one-on-one exchange through a

"mailbox" system, the network operated a variety of forums to facilitate open conversations

on specific topics. including geometry, algebra, assessment, equity, teacher

professionalism, and outreach grants, as well as notices that were of general interest to

network users. The electronic network provided an easy and efficient way for

Documentation Project staff to receive information, request additional information, and

verify information collected.

arge-Scale Surveys

Over the course of the five years during which the Documentation Project recorded

the development of the UMC project, four large-scale surveys were administered to

teachers at the eleven sites: (1) Secondary Mathematics Teacher Questionnaire: Teacher

70

PART V IMPACT OF THE COLLABORATIVE.July, 1989 Report

On-Site Observer

In this Ile COIGN, please list ny idiom that the collaborative has taken that yos feel Avis cloud aninspect. Please specify the collaborative action and the impscl you have identified, including whomthe impact has been on. Include as mock detail as possible. If you have already descc ibed thecollaborative action in an activity rettort, just refer us lo that activity report

To help determine the impuct of the collaborative, try filling in the followins: "If it weren't forthe collaborative, teacher leadership would never have happened '

A Collsborative action (ectivity, polky, meeC118, elC.)

Name: new Sth year mathematics course

Dine: Feb. - July, 1989

Description: Ws needed a new 5th year mathemstics course for studentswho were not capable of taking an AP Calculus course. PAW. worked on thecampaign to begin an Intro to college Mathematics course. Thecurricultm was written, submitted and passed the local boardbut was not approved by the State Board of education. Insteadof letting the issue die, concerned PAW teacher aremeeting now to add desired topicu to another course on thestate approved list. So, !ICS students will got this Intro coursebut will have it under the state title of Advanced Algebra.

(on teachers, stodents, school, parents, curriculum, district, business or universitycommunity, elc

C Other commentsI feel MSC has caused us teachers to take standson what we think students need. NUPIC teachers are willingto work , write curricuhm, compromise on course title., ifnecessary, to get what they think is ismortant. 'teachers areno longer quitting after a setback.

Figare 11. Impact of the Collaborative Formas completed by an on-site observer.

71

PART V IMPACT OF THE COLLABORATIVE On-Site ObserverJuly, 19119 Report

In ibis section, please list any actions that the collaborative has taken that you feel have caused animpact. Please specify the colleborative action and Ike inspect you have identified, ineludinl whomthe impel has been on. Include as ouch detail as possible. If you have already described thecollaborative action in an activity meant, Jon refer vs to that activity report.

To help determine the impel of the collaborative, try filling in the following: "I( it weren't forthe collaborative, would never have happened."

A. Collaborative action (activity, policy, meeting, etc )

Name: PLUS Workshop planning Committee

Date: July 13, 1989

Description: .ans for the 4th Annual PIAIS Workshop Series

B. Weird (on teachers, students, school, parents, curriculum, district, business or universitycommunity, etc. ):

This event brought together teachers for dif farent schoolsand districts, industry people, district personnel andmatheaatics group people such as LAMA and CVIC to discussplans for a workshop series.

C. Other commer,..ince thi is our 4th year people are realising that we can worktogether to get the best product. Nona of us is as smart asall of us.

II it weren't for PLUS each of the high schools woulis notbe linked by telecomunications (#PLOS#) .

Figure 12. Impact of the Collaborative Formas completed by an on-site observer.

52

Background Survey, (2) Teacher Survey: Survey on Teacher Professionalism, (3) Teacher

Survey III: Survey on Mathematics Conceptions, and (4) Teacher Survey IV: Follow-Up

Survey on Teacher Professionalism. The Secondary Mathematics Teacher Questionnaire,

administered during 1986 and 1987, collected demographic information on the

backgrounds and staff development training of UMC teachers, as well as data on

mathematics instruction in their schools and their classes. The information gathered

through this survey enabled the Documentation Project to compare UMC teachers with a

national sample of teachers regarding education, training, experience, and other rted

topics. The Survey on Teacher Professionalism, originally administered during the 1986-

87 school year, measured teachers' views about teaching as a profession. Teacher Survey

III: The Survey on Mathematics Conceptions, administered during the spring of 1988,

investigated teachers' views of mathematics and mathematics education. During the 1989-

90 school year, which was the final year of formal data collection by the UMC

Documentation Project, Teacher Survey IV: Follow-Up Survey on Teacher

Professionalism was administered to identify changes in teachers' views about teaching as a

profession. Six questions that addressed the impact of the collaborative were added to the

original survey on professionalism. A copy of each of the four large-scale surveys is

presented in Appendix D.

Following au analysis of the data for each of the surveys, a technical report was

prepared. The reports of the surveys that addressed teacher professionalism and teachers'

conceptions of mathematics also incorporated information from the teacher interviews that

had been gathered by the on-sitm observer through the Diary of Professional Relationships

(see Appendix C). A series of four technical reports was prepared:

Characteristics and Attitudes of Frequent Participants in the Urban Mathematics

Mathematics Collaboratives: Results of the Secondary Mathematics Teacher

Questionnaire. J. A. Middleton, N. L. Webb, T. A. Romberg, S. D. Pittelman,

0. M. Richgels, A. J. Pitman, & E. M. Fade 11, October, 1989.

Mathematics Teachers' Views About Teaching as a Profession: An Initial

Assessment. T. A. Romberg, A. J. Pitman, S. D. Pittelman, N. L. Webb,

E. M. Fade & J. A. Middleton, October, 1988.

53

Teachers' Conceptions of Mathematics and llit,Anematics Education.

J. A. Middleton, N. L. Webb, T. A. Romberg, & S. D. Pittelman,

November, 1990.

Mathematics Teachers' Views About Teaching as a Profession: A Final

Assessment. J. A. Middleton, A. J. Pitman, N. L. Webb, T. A. Romberg, (in

press).

The series provides quantitative data describing the teachers in the UMC project and

their views on issuch associated with the project's focus. The reports were distributed to

all of the collaborative projects as well as to a broader audience of administrators and

scholars interested in the UMC project, the mathematics reform movement, or the areas of

teacher professionalism or collaboration.

Demographic Surveys

Twice during the five-year data collection period, the Documentation Project sent a

Demographic Survey to collaborative school districts. The surveys requested information

about the school district, including population data, budget information, school

composition, teacher profiles, and data on the student population. The information from

the two surveys provided a background for the information that was reported by the on-

site observer in the Context Diary of the Monthly Report. A copy of the Demographic

Survey that was distributed in June, 1990, is presented in Appendix E.

Site Visits

Every year, members of the Documentation Staff visited each site several times. Site

visits typically involved classroom observations, conversations with teachers and

collaborative staff, and interviews with district mathematics specialists and district

administrators. These visits provided an opportunity for us to gain information about the

collaborative from tht.. perspective of someone who was "outside." Site visits also provided

54

an occasion to check the reliability of information that had been gathered, as well as to

collect first-hand impressions of specific activities.

An effort was made to schedule site visits to coincide with collaborative activities so

that the documenter could attend a collaborative event. Over the years, the

Documentation P-oject staff attended several board meetings, workshops, and

presentations and met with associates from business and higher education. One site visit to

each collaborative was devoted to reviewing the Documentation Project's draft of the

collaborative's section of the Annual Report with the collaborative director or coordinator

as a means of both verifying and validating the information included in the report. This

process proved a valuable procedure for the staffs of both the Documentation Project and

the collaboratives.

Near the end of the five-year period for data collection, the UMC Documentation

staff made a final site visit to each of the collaboratives. T AS visit was devoted to

interviewing people who either had played a central role in the collaborative or had

knowledge of the collaborative. Approximately a dozen people were interviewed at each

site, including collaborative administrators, host agency officials, teachers, principals,

school district administrators, business associates, representatives from higher education,

and collaborative office staff. The purpose of the visit was to record individual

perspectives on the impact of the collaborative, the anticipated and unanticipated

outcomes of the project, and what could have been done differently. Each person who

was interviewed was asked to describe his or her involvement with the collaborative, the

changes that had taken place because of the collaborative, the barriers to the development

of the collaborative, what should have been done differently, and how the collaborative

had impacted on mathematics education in the area. The interviews were structured to

ensure that those being interviewed remained focused on the questions, but that they were

allowed enough freedom to enable impressions to develop and cause-and-effect links to be

established.

Special UMC Functions

In addition to the site visits, members of the Documentation Staff attended the special

functions related to the UMC project. These events served as valuable sources of

55

information about individual collaborative projects as well as about the UMC Network as

a whole. Among these meetings were the UMC receptions and working sessions at the

Annual Meetings of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics; the UMC Annual

Meetings; meetings of UMC directors, of UMC coordinators, and of district mathematics

supervisors; UMC Steering Committee meetings; and the UMC Leadership Workshops.

After each of these meetings, as well as after each site visit, the Documentation Project

staff prepared a report, describing the event as well as reactions to it. Staff members of

the Documentation Project also participated in meetings with Barbara Scott Nelson and

members of EDC at which the development of individual collaboratives was reviewed and

plans for the future of the UMC Network discussed.

Case Studies

A case study component of the Documentation Project was initiated in December,

1987, under the direction of Professor Thomas Popkewitz of the University of Wisconsin-

Madison. The project was designed to conduct case studies involving one or two teachers

at each of the eleven collaboratives, six duriag 1987-88 and five during 1988-89. Two

kinds of ir formation were collected by the on-site ethnographer. The first described the

professional lives, interactions, and thoughts of the teachers as they worked in the

classroom; the relationship of their daily activities and views of the collaborative; and the

changes they perceived to have occurred as a result of their collaborative involvement.

The second addressed the teachers' conceptions of mathematics and the teaching of

mathematics, and the assumptions and implications that could be drawn from their

pedagogical reasoning. The case studies describe the collaborative's effect on teachers'

everyday lives in schools and in classrooms, on their successes and frustrations, and on the

tension of the reform process itself. The completed set of case studies, which focus on a

variety of teachers whose professional lives have been affected by the UMC project, will

be published in a report in early summer of 1991.

56

The UMC Annual Report

Each year, the UMC Documentation Project staff prepared an Annual Report to the

Ford Foundation. The information was organized so that the Annual Report described a

school year, July I-June 30, rather than a calendar year. The report narrative contained a

brief overview of each collhborative and a detailed description of the roles the Ford

Foundation, the Technical Assistance and Outreach Projects at the Education Development

Center, and the Documentation Project each played in the UMC Network. The report also

included a section in which Docuwentation Project staff reflected on the growth and

development of the UMC project tiering the year. In this section, the issues of Project

Management, Collaboration, Teacher Professionalism, and Mathematics Focus were

addressed in light of the total UMC Network. These four topic areas were central to the

goal of the UMC project to enhance the professional lives of mathematics teachers through

collaboration. It is also in this section that the similarities and differences of the eleven

collaboratives are noted, as well as the impact that the collaborative projects, viewed as a

collective unit, have had and the challenges that they face.

The appendix of the Annual Report contained a detailed summary report for each of

the collaboratives. The summary report was comprised of six sections: A. Purpose, B.

Context, C. Development of the Collaborative, D. Project Activities, E. Observations, and

F. Next Steps.

A. Purpose - The goals of the collaborative were presented in this section of the

report. The information was gathered primarily from collaborative proposals, minutes of

meetings of governing bodies, and on-site visits by members of the Documentation

Project.

B. Context - I tscriptive information about the social, political, economic, and

professional environments in which the collaborative operated was presented in this

section of the report. The primary sources of information were the Context Section of the

Monthly Report, newspaper articles submitted by the on-site observers, and data from the

Demc graphic Survey that had been sent to the school systems by the UMC Documentation

Project.

57

C. Develomnent of the Collaborative - This section of the report described the

management structure of the collaborative and any changes that had occurred in that

structure during the reporting period. Descriptions of the collaborative's governing bodies

and summaries of key meetings were incorporated. The information reported in this

section was gathered from minutes of meetings of collaborative governing boards and

committees, as well as from observations by the on-site observers, collaborative

newsletters, proposals, electronic communications, and on-site visits by members of the

Documentation Project that included discussions with collaborative administrators and

teachers.

D. Project Activities - This section of the report included descriptions of each activity

in which the collaborative played a role. The activities were organized by type

(Workshops, Dinner Meetings, Grants, Regional and National Conferences) and then

reported chronologically within type. Descriptions of teachei resource cm-ars established

by the collaborative and of collaborative newsletters also were included in this section of

the report. Primary sources of information included the Project Diaries submitted by the

on-site observer as part of the Monthly Report, articles from collaborative newsletters,

minutes of meetings of governing bodies as well as materials aistributed at these meetings,

messages sent over the electronic network, articles from the UMC <Aim les> newsletter

published by the Outreach Project at the Education Development Center, and on-site visits

by members of the Documentation Project.

E. attemajou - This section provided an opportunity for the staff of the

Documentation Project to look back over the year and reflect on changes that had occurred

within a collaborative. The observations focused on four areas: Project Management,

Collaboration, Professionalism, and Mathematics Focus. Depending on the specific goals

of the collaborative project, other areas were addressed in the Observations section as well.

F. Next Stevi - In this final section of the summary report for each collaborative,

activities that were scheduled for the future were described. Changes that were

anticipated in the collaborative structure or within the social, economic, political or

professional environments in which the project operated were also reported.

The process of producing each Annual Report to the Ford Foundation included

synthesizing the information that had been entered on the data base as well as the

78

58

information in the files, drafting the summary report for each collaborative, sharing the

drafts with . t collaborative administrators and on-site observers, and modifying the

reports in response to each site's comments. The discussions and negotiations between the

collaborative principals and the Documentation Project staff proved to be an extremely

important part of the report-writing process.

The completed Annual Report, like the technical reports that present the survey data,

are distributed to members of each collaborative project. They are also disseminated to a

broader audience that includes representatives from the business and industrial

communities, school administrators, and scholars interested in the areas of teacher

professionalism, collaboration, and the mathematics reform movement.

V. A FINAL NOTE

The UMC Network has flourished since the Ford Foundation first established the

Urban Mathematics Collaborative project in 1985. More than a sum of its eleven diverse

sites, the UMC project has evolved into a national network recognized by project

administrators and teachers within individual sites as a key contributor to the development

of collaboration on a variety of levels, as well as a force for mathematical reform. Not

only has each of the eleven collaboratives survived the transition from Ford Foundation

support to financial independence, but the network has expanded to encompass four new

collaborativesin Dayton, Ohio; Columbus, Georgia; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and

Worcester, Massachusettsbringing the total number of collaboratives in the UMC

Network to fifteen (see Figure 13).

Data collection by the UMC Documentation Project ended in June, 1990. We have

recorded the history of each collaborative project as it was created and described its

struggles to become self-sufficient. The real story, however, is just beginning. How the

collaboratives will operate under permanence and how they will grow to meet the

challenges they face will provide multiple experiences rich for documentation. The need

for documentation is ongoing, although it is now up to the individual sites to assume this

responsibility. This guide was created to offer assistance to the Urban Mathematics

Collaboratives as they now become their own historians and documenters.

59S

TheUrban Mathematics Collaborative Project

Funded by The Ford Foundation

Alinnaapolls-St. Paul

TechnicalAssistance& OutreachPropcts

EducationAfi &ado* Devslopmant

Cantor, Inc.Newton, MA

New Or tuns

Worcestor

PhiladelphiaPittsburgh

Dayton

Durham

Columbus

Cleveland Collaborative for Mathematics Education (C2ME)Clevrriand, Ohio

Durham Collaborative: The Durham Matimmatics CouncilDurham, Nut Carolina

Los Angeles Urban Mathernatics/Sclence/Technology Collaborative (LAUM/S/TC)Los Angeles, California

Memphis Urban Mathematics CollaborativeMemphis, Tennessee

Nay Orisons Mathematics Collaborative (NOMC)New Orleans, Louana

Philadelphia Math Science CollaborativePhiladelphia, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh Mathematics CollaborativaPittsburg, Pennsylvania

St Louis Urban klthematics CollaborativeSt. Louis, Wesoud

San Ditgo Urban Mathematics CollaborativeSan Diego, Calibmia

San Francisco Mathematics CollaborativeSan Frandeco, California

Twin Cities Urban Mathematics CollaborativeMemespok-SL Paul, Minnesota

Replication SitesColumbus Regional Mathematics Collaborative (CRMC)

Columbus, GeorgiaDayton4Aontgomery County Public Education Fund MathertriA14 Collaborative

Dayton, OhioGreater Worcastor Urban MathomatIce Collaborative

Worcester, MassachusettsMilwaukee Metropolitan Mathematics Collaborative (M3C)

MNwaukee, Wisconsin

Figure 13. The National Network of Urban Mathematics Collaboratives.

REFERENCES

Middleton, J. A., Webb, N. L., Romberg, T. A., & Pittelman, S. D. (1990). jeachers'

Conceptions of Mathematics and Mathcmatisalawatign (Report from the UMC

Documentation Project). Madison, WI: Univetsity of Wisconsin-Madison,

Wisconsin Center for Education Research.

Middleton, J. A., Pitman, A. J., Webb, N. L. & Romberg, T. A. (in preparation).

Mathematics T ' ViewiAbout as it holession.,_& Assessment

(Report from the UMC Documentation Project). Madison, WI: University of

Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin Center for Education Research.

Middleton, J. A., Webb, N. L., Rombug, T. A., Pittelman, S. D., Richgels, G. M.,

Pitman, A. J., & Fadell, E. M. (1989). Characteristics and Attitudes of

Freauent Participants in Ihg_ribaa.MathematigLaojlaborativgs: Results of

thLatundiuy ilathgingigLinchtLQuitignnakt (Report from the UMC

Documentation Project). Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin-Madison,

Wisconsin Center for Education Research.

Otterbourg, S., & Adams, D. (Eds.). (1989). Partnerships insaimgationLMenurkg_ther

succe%. Ellenton, Fu: Partnerships in Education.

Popkewitz, T. S., & Myrdal, S. (in press). a..tysligsaithejlthan_Mate_alslim icallibgati. Madison, WI: Univer3ity ofWisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin Center for Education Research.

Romberg, T. A., Pitman, A. J., Pittelman, S. D., Webb, N. L., r ade 11, E. M., & Middleton,

t 1 'J. A. (1988). I

Autunitni (Report from dim UMC Documentation Project). Madison, WI:

University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin Center for Education Research.

A

Romberg, T. A., eic Pitman, A. J. (1985) Annual reaortiUlte_Ford_f_o_u: Thg

labAiLtigimmatia.Q211Aboallysjughra (Program R,rt 86-1). Madison, WI:

Wisconsi- Center for Education Research,

61

8 2

62

Romberg, T. A., Webb, N. L., Pitman, A. J., & Pittelman, S. D. (1987). 1986 Annual

report to the Ford Fo'indatign;_ner_utkin..maihtmatir

(Program Report 87-4). Madison, WI: Wisconsin Center for Education Research.

Webb, N. L., Pittelman, S. D., Romberg, T. A., Pitman, A. J., Fade 11, E. M., &

Middleton, J. A. (1989). The Urban Mathematics Collaburative oroiect. Report

ig the Ford Foundation on the 1987-88 school year (Program Report 89-1).

Madison, WI: Wisconsin Center for Education Research.

Webb, N. L., Pittelman, S. D., Romberg, T. A., Pitman, A. J., Middleton, J. A., Fade 11,

E. M., & Sapienza, M. (1990). Theilthin_mathen

Rgj2orjig_thr,_EQLdy_aunsladQrunjiu2jlazjauhQsa,= (Program Report 90-1).

Madison, WI: Wisconsin Center for Education Research.

Webb, N. L., Pittelman, S. D., Romberg, 1. A., Pitman, A. J., & Williams, S. R. (1988).

The Urban Mathematics Collaborathr_et_oroiect. Report_ to the Ford Foundation on the

1986-87 school year (Program Report 38-1). Madison, WI: Wisconsin Center for

Education Research.

Webb, N. L., Pittelman, S. D., Sapienza, M., Romberg, T. A., Pitman, A. J., & Middleton,

J. A. (1991). The Urban_Mathematics Collaborative Proiect Report to the

ForcEgainditionsn_the_12.82=22_,EhoLlgai (Program Report 91-1). Madison, WI:

Wisconsin Center for Education Research.

APPENDIXES

A. Month,y Report Form

Cover

Context Diary

Additional Comments

Project Diary

Activity/Conference Form

Grant/Scholarship Form

Diary of Professional Relationships

Impact of the Collaborative

B. Sample Evaluation Forms for Activities

C. Questions from the Diary of Professional Relationships (by topic)

D. Large-Scale Surveys

Secondary Mathematics Teacher Questionnaire: Teacher Background Survey

Teacher Survey. Survey on Teacher Professionalism

Teacher Survey III: Survey on Mathematics Conceptions

Teacher Survey IV: Follow-Up Survey on Teacher Professionalism

E. Demographic Survey 1989-90

v

S 1 BEST COPY AVMLABLE

APPENDIX A

Monthly Report Form

Cover

Context Diary

Additional Comments

Project Diary

Activity/Conference Form

Grant/Scholarship Form

Diary of Professional Relationships

Impact of the Collaborative

85BEST COPY AVAILABLE

On-Site Observer Date Received

Name of Collaborative(leave blatig

MONTHLY REPORT: March, 1990

PART I Context Diary

PART II Additional Comments

PART III Project Diary

PART IV Diary of Professional RelationshipsTopic: Teacher Professionalism

PART V Impact of the Collabrative

Please complete the Monthly Report for March and mail it to the UMC Documentation Projectno later than Monday, April 16. A postage-paid envelope has been provided for your convenience.

S 6

PART 1 CONTEXT NARY On-Site ObserverMarch, 1990 Repon

In this section of the Monthly Report please record any major changes or events that occurred in theschool district or in the community itself during the month of March. The information we areinterested in includes, but is not limited to, the following areas: school board elections, poliicalissues affecting the schools, changes in administration or key staff, new school policies or changes incurriculum that would affect mathematics teachers, negotiation of a new teacher contract, the openingor closing of a major industry.

Context information might be contained in such sources as newspapers; district newsletter or memos;school board minutes; teachers' union newsletters; and rerorts from universitie3, businesses,collaborative project and school district administrators, principals, and teachers.

(Please attach newspaper articles or other printed information when available and, if appropriate,highlight information that you feel is most relevant.)

PART II ADDITIONAL COMMENTS On-Site ObserverMarch, 1990 Report

This section of the Monthly Report can be used for any information which you want to sharethat will not conveniently fit into the other parts of the Monthly Report. This may includesuch information as comments or opinions related to the collaborative made by teachers;principals; mathematicians from business, industry, or higher education; parents; etc. Or youmight have some personal observations and insights that would be valuable to us, or questionsand issues you feel we should probe. (Do not feel compelled to write on this page, but pleasedo report anything that you feel would enhance our understanding of your collaborative.)

A. Development of the Collaborative:

B. Permanence (include who is looking at permanence and how they are doing it,what issues are being addressed, and what solutions are being generated.)

C. Collaboration:

(Continue on other side.)

S

D. Professionalism:

E. Math Focus:

F. Other Comments:

PART III PROJECT DIARY On-Site ObserverMarch, 1990 Report

Information regarding any activities or events that were attended by members of the collaborative,or grants of financial support should b4 recorded in this section of the Monthly Report.

Please complete an Activity/Conference Form for each event that occurred between Thursday,March 1, and Saturday, March 31. (Attach primary sources of information when available,e.g., announcements of meetings, agendas, minutes, evaluation forms, materials distributed at ameeting, flyers.)

Please complete a Grant/Scholarship Form for any grants for which collaborative teachers applied.(Attach grant/scholarship announcements, applications, and lists of recipients when available.)

Please list below the names and dates of any fILL,2, activities that have been scheduled.

9 0

PART III PROJECT DIARYActivity/Conference FormMarch, 1990 Report

A. Name of the Activity/Conference

On-Site Observer

B. What was the role of the Collaborative Project?

planned the eventfunded the eventfunded participantsto attendother (please specify):

publicized the eventsponsored the eventwith another organization

C. If the Collaborative did not sponsor and/or fund the Activity/Conference,what organization did?

D. Brief description of the Activity/Conference

Speaker (include affiliation and topic) or Program:

Date(s) and Times: Location:

E. Purpose of the Activity/Conference (On which issues did the event focus?Why was the ,vent held?)

F. Attendance

1. How many (and who) actually attended? Total number.

Collaborative teachersCollaborative directorCollaborative coordinatorNon-collaborative teachersSchool administrators

(Please attach a list of attendees, if available.)

(Continue on other side.)

9 1

Representatives frombusiness or industry

Representatives from highereducation

Other (please specify):

F. Attendance (Continued)

2. *1.'ho was invited to attend/participate in the activity/conference?

3. If enrollment was limited, how were participants selected?

4. Was the attendance as anticipated?

G. Teacher Support

I. Did teachers receive any financial support, (i.e., a stipend;reimbursement for travel; registration fees)?

If yes, please specify the type of support, the amount, and who provided it.

2. Wore teachers given any other form of compensation, (i.e., continuing educationcredits, classroom materials)? 141 =1110

If yes, please specify.

.110.111110

3. Were teachers released from school in order to attend the activity/conference?

IMMORIMINININIMMIIIn

If yes, were substitute teachers provided? If so, who providedthe funding?

Activity/Conference Form (Continued) On-Site ObserverMarch, 1990 Report

H. Egazions_m_thilladykyamtlx_tenhpazhalugna4. We are interested in teachers'evaluations of the activity as well as its impact. Please interview five teachers andwrite direct quotes of their answers to questions such az

1) Was the activity worthwhile?2) What were the strengths and weaknesses?3) Would you have changed anything?4) How will you use the information presented?5) How will this effect your teaching?

Trador_11:

Teacher #2;

(Please record the comments for Teachers 3, 4, and 5 on the other side.)

Teacher *4:

Teacher *5:

9 4

Activity/Conference Form (Continued) On-Site ObserverMarch, 1990 Report

O $ e I -I- .

Etsaggii,ZeguggirsigLaidialu (Please write direct quotes and indicate theposition that the person holds, as well as the role he/she had in the activity/event.)

2.

3.

J. c1ivi/enjv

1. An evaluation of the activity in general (if you attended):

2. Your perceptions of the comments made by the attendee=

PART III PROJECT DIARYGrant/Scholarship FormMarch, 1990 Report

A. Name or type of grant/scholarship:

B. Purpose of the grant/scholarship:

On-Site Observer

C. Total amount available Amount (or range) of individual grants

Who provided the funding?

D. Who is eligible to apply?

E. How and when do teachers apply? (Please attach application form, if available.)

F. Who selects recipients?

What criteria are used?

When are the awards made?

/

(Continue on other side.)

9 f;

G. How did the collaborative publicize the availability of the grants/scholarships?

H. Did the collaborative offer assistance to teachers applying for grants/scholarships (i.e., grant-writing workshops, individual consultation, clerical support)? If yes, please specify.

I. How many c:illaborative teachers applied?

How many received grants/scholarships?

What were they specifically used for?

J. Please list comments from grant/scholarship recipients regarding the collaborative's role in thegrant/scholarship process.

PART IV: DIARY OF PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIPSTopic: Teacher ProfessionalismMarch 1990 Report

We are interested in continuing to document teachers' views of professionalism. The 1990information colle,ted for this Diary will supplement the data being collected in the TeacherSurvey on Professionalism. This is a follow-up to the information on professionalism collectedthree years ago.

Please interview fiv e teachers who have been either frequent or occasional participants incollaborative events to get their reactions to these questions. Try to interview teachers whomyou have not interviewed before.

For each teacher, please circle the level of participation in collaborative activities. It is notnecessary to indicate the names of the teachers responding, however, if a teacher holds aspecial position (i.e., the department chair) please indicate that on the Intel iew Form.

Use the questions as guidelines for discussion and encourage teachers to elaborate on theirresponses. Please ask the teachers to give as many specific examples as possible.

1. a. What role do mathematics organizatkms play in improving mathematics instruction?

b. What role should they play?

c. Are you a member of any professional organizations? (Please List)

2. a. What impact should mathematics teachers have on determining the basic contentthat is taught in their mathematics courses?

b. What impact do the mathematic.; teachers in your school have?

3. a. What role should mathematics teachers play in the evaluation of mathematicsteachers?

b. What role do the mathematics teachers in your school play in regard to theevaluation of other mathematics teachers?

4. Do you think of yourself primarily as a teacher or as a mathematician? Why?

5. What unique contributions to society are made by mathematics teachers that aredifferent from the contributions made by other professionals, including teachersof other subjects?

6. How has the collaborative enhanced your view of yourself as a professional?

PART IV: DIARY OF PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIPS Date

Topic: Teacher Professionalism Collaborative

Teacher 0 Position

Interview Form

Level of Participation in Collaborative Activities--Circle one: frequent/occasional

I. a. What role do mathematics organizations play in improving mathematics instruction?

b. What role should they play?

c. Are you a member of any nofessional organizations? (Please List)

2. a. What impact should mathemati+2 teachers have on determining the basic contentthat is taught in their mathematics courses?

b. What impact do the mathematics teachers in your school have?

(Continue on the other side.)

9 9

3. a. What role should mathematics teachers play in the evaluation of mathematics teachers?

b. What role do the mathematics teachers in your school play in regard to the evaluation ofother mathematics teachers?

4. Do you think of yoarself primarily as a teacher or as a mathematician? Why?

5. What unique contributions to society are made by mathematics teachers that are differentfrom the contributions made by other professionals, inducing teachers of other subjects?

6. How has the collaborative enhanced your view of yourself as a professional?

if

PART V IMPACT OF THE COLLABORATIVE On-Site ObserverMarch, 1990 Report

In this section, please list any actions that the collaborative has taken that you feel have caused animpact. Please specify the collaborative action and the impact you have identified, including whomthe impact has been on. Include as much detail as possible. If you have already described thecollaborative action in an activity report, just refer us to that activity report.

To help determine the impact of the collaborative, try filling in the followink If it weren't forthe collaborative, would never have happened.'"

A. Collaborative action (activity, policy, meeting, etc.)

Name:

Date:

Description:

B. Impact (on teachers, students, school, parents, curriculum, district, business or universitycommunity, etc. ):

C. Other comments:

0 1

APPENDIX B

Sample Evaluation Forms for Activities

102BEST COPY AVAILABLE

San Francisco Mathematics Collabaadvelintracking the Curriculum Allows You to Unt(ack Students"

Sherry Fraser, guest speakerFebruary 89 1990

Evaluation

We appreciate your cooperation in answering the following questions and sharing your thought&

Name (optional) Grade Number ci years teaching_______

1 ) To what cam t 14 thefollowing influence your Coming today:

*opportunity to be updated on the latestinformation/Issues in math education

low high

*opportunity

2 3 4 5

to interact with other math teachen

*the topic

1 2 3 4 5

of the speaker's address

'other

1 2 3 4 5

Comments:

2) Please rate *following:

*the speaker was knowledgeable about theissues involved

the speaker stimulated my thinking aboutthe issues

low

1

1

2

2

3

3

4

4

high

5

5

*the talk was relevam to my teaching

*there was ample time to talk withother math teachers

*the Math Collaborative did a satisfactory jobof organizing the event

Comment=

1

1

1

2

2

2

3

3

3

4

4

4

5

5

3 ) Ideas for Aare Math Collaborative talltrlactivitia:

1 0

ACTIVITY:

LOCATION:

San Diego City Schools

Staff Development and Training Department

Evaluation

DATE:

TIME:

1. How adequately did activity

Not at all

PRESENTER(S):

meet objective?

Very much

1 2 3 4 5

2. Was activity useful?

Y2S: NO:

3. What was most useful?

4. What would you have done to improve upon this activity?

5. Overall Evaluation:

Poor Excellent

1 2 3 4 5

6. Suggested topics for future sessions:

Mathematics, Science and Technology Conference

Evaluation Questionnaire - Morning Program

In order to help us plan for future conferences that will meet your

needs, we would appreciate your taking a few minutes to complete this

evaluation. Thank you.

Name: School:

Level (check one): Elementary Secondary

Subject (check all that apply): Mathematics Science

Computer Science Other (specify)

Please indicate the session you attended and your ratings for that session

in terms of its utility, interest, format and pace by circling theappropriate numerals on the scales below.

8:30 - 9:45

Group A Workshops/Sessions

1. Which one did you attend? Circle one: Al A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A8 A9

2. Please circle one of the numerals on each scale below to indicate your

ratings of the presentation (Note that for pace (d) a rating of 3 or 4

would indicate a good pace):

a. Of Little or No Use 1 2 3 4 5 6 Extremely Useful

b. Dull 1 2 3 4 5 6 Very Interesting

c. Inappropriate Format 1 2 3 4 5 6 Excellent Format

d. Pace Much Too Slow 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pace Much Too Fast

3. Comments regarding Group A Presentation:

(Please turn this page over to respond to theGroup B Presentations and the Keynote Address)

105

Welcome to side 5. Please continue.

10:00 - 11:15

Group El Workshops/Sessions

1. Which one did you attend? Circle one: B1 82 33 34 85 86 97 88 89

2. Please circle one of the numerals on each scale below to indicate yourratings of the presentation (Note that for pace (d) d rating of 3 or 4would indicate a good pace):

a. Of Little or No Use 1 2 3 4 5 6 Extremely Useful

b. Dull 1 2 3 4 5 6 Very Interesting

c. Inappropriate Format 1 2 3 4 5 6 Excellent Format

d. Pace Much Too Slaw 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pace Much Too Fast

3. Comments regarding Group B Presentation:

11:15 - 12:15

Keynote Address

1. Please circle one of the numerals on each scale below to indicate your

ratings of the keynote address (Note that for pace (d) a rating of 3

or 4 would indicate a good pace):

a. Of Little or No Use 1 2 3 4 5 6 Extremely Useful

b. Dull 1 2 3 4 5 6 Very Interesting

c. Inappropriate Format 1 2 3 4 5 6 Excellent Format

d. 2ace Much l'oo Slow 1 2 3 4 5 f Pace Much Too Fast

2. Comments regarding the Keynote Address:

Mathematics, Science and Technology Conference

Evaluation Questionnaire - Afternoon Program

Even though you gave us this information this morning, please tell us

who you are. Then, respond to the questions below about the afternoon

presentations and the conference in general.

Name School:

Level (check one): Elementary Secondary

Subject (check all that apply): Mathematics Science

Computer Science Other (specify)

Please indicate the session you attended and your ratings for that session

in terms of its utility, interest, format and pace by circling the

appropriate numerals on the scales below.

1:15 - 2:30

Group C Workshops/Sessions

1. Which one did you attend? Circle one: CI C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9

2. Please circle one of the numerals on each scale below to Indicate your

ratings of the presentation (Note that for pace (d) a rating of 3 or 4

would indicate a good pace):

a. Of Little or No Use 1 2 3 4 5 6 Extremely Useful

b. Dull 1 2 3 4 5 6 Very Interesting

c. Inappropriate Format 1 2 3 4 5 6 Excellent Format

d. Pace Much Too Slow 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pace .Much Too Fast

3. Comments regarding Group C Presentationy

..114111

(Please turn this page over for the last of the questions)

4. What did you like best about the conference?

411=111111110.

5. What did you like least about the conference?

6. If you have any comments or 'ggestions about the conference that you

haven't communicated elsewhere, this is the place for them:

Y ,............

Thanks for your help in evaluating the conference. We expect to do a

follow-up assessment in a couple of months. Keep your eyes peeled for it.

TOPIC

MUMC WORKSHOP EVALUATION

INSTRUCTOR

SCHOOL

DATE

1. Were the goals of this workshop clear t you?

Not clear 1 2 3 4 5 Clear

Comments:

2. Were the methods used in this workshop effective in helping you tolearn material?

Not Effective 1 2 3 4 5 Effective

Comments:

3. Did you find the facilitators/instructors to be helpful?

Not Helpful 1 2 3 4 5 Helpful

Comments:

4. Would you rate this session useful to you in your school?

Not Useful 1 2 3 4 5 Useful

Comments:

5. How would you rate your own participation?

Inadequate 1 2 3 4 5 Adequate

Comments:

6. Would you recommend t'is workshop to other teachers?

Not Recommend 1 2 3 4 5 Highly recommend

Comments:

7. What changes would you suggest for future workshops?

8. What additional needs do you have in regard to this topic?

109

Name of

Presenter

CRAY ACADEMY - 1989WORKSHOP EVALUATION

Workshop

Please indicate your degree of agreement or disagreement with each of the

following statements about the MATH, SCIENCE or TECHNOLOGY WORKSHOP you attended

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. (Please circle days of workshop).

Circle the number on the 5-point rating scale of 5 . Strongly Agree; 4 - Agree; 3

. Uncertain; 2 Disagree; and 1 Strongly Disagree.

The Workshop: SA A U D SD

4111MIIIMMIiiMM.1.

1. Increased my knowledge of new concepts/information in my discipline. 5 4 3 2 1

2. Pravided me with practical teaching strategies 5 4 3 2 1

3. Provided me with useful instrrltional materials 5 4 3 2 1

4. Will allow me to apply what I learned

5. Increased my interest in this subject/discipline 5 4 3 2 1

6. Increased my confidence in teaching this subject/discipline 5 4 3 2 1

7. Allowed me to exchange ideas with co)leagues 5 4 3 2 1

8. Actively involved me in learning 5 4 3 2 1

9. Demonstrated relationships between math, scienceand technology 5 4 3 2 1

10. Provided ideas for problem solving, hands-on,interactive or cooperative group learning 5 4 3 2 1

Please use this space or the reverse side for comments, recommendations orgeneral observations.

(Used with permission. Otterbourg & Adams, 1989.)

110

APPENDIX C

Questions from the Diary of Professional Relationships

1 1 1BEST COPY AVAILABLE

Questions from the Diary of Professional Relationships

(Organized by Topic)

12scsf_:_ejAPnal_Organizations

I. What services do professional mathematics education organizations provide forthe average math teacher? What should they do?

2. Do professional mathematics education organizations play a role in changingschool mathematics? Should they?

3. Are you affiliated with any professional mathematics organizations (notmathematics education organizations) e.g., Mathematics Association of America(MAA) Society for Industrial Applications of Mathematics (SIAM)? Do youthink that these organizations have any impact on school mathematics? Shouldthey?

4. Would you encourage expanding the membership of local professionalmathematics education organizations to include mathematicians affiliated withbusinesses and universities? Why or why not?

callgiig itsj,j211h

1. Do you feel comfortable discussing mathematics with mathematicians frombusinesses and universities?

2. Is it more beneficial to your teaching to meet with other high school mathteachers than with mathematicians from businesses or universities? Why or whynot?

3. Do you feel that university mathematicians would benefit from talking with highschool math teachers on a regular basis?

4. Do you feel that mathematicians in businesses would benefit from talking withhigh school math teachers on a regular basis?

5. Do you feel more challenged intellectually when you meet with mathematiciansfrom businesses and universities than when you meet with other high schoolmath teachers?

Teachers Impact on the Content of_Mighecatn ics Courses

1. Have you had any formal opportunities to evaluate the content of themathematics courses that you teach?

2. Do you have strong feelings regarding content that should be taught that is notcurrently being taught in the mathematics program in your high school?

3. Do you have strong feelings regarding content that is currently being taught thatyou feel should noloLge_l r be included in the mathematics program.

4. Do you think that the mathematics department in each high school shoulddetermine the mathematics curriculum that is taught in that school?

112

5. Do you as a teacher, or does your high school mathematics departmentcollectively, have a say in the mathematics curriculum in your high school? Doyou want to?

6. a. Who, in your opinion, should initiate changes in the high schoolmathematics curriculum? (i.e., high school mathematics teachers; highschool mathematics departments; administrators in the District's CentralOffice; committees of teachers working through the District's CentralOffice; the School Board; the local mathematics education organization;mathematicians from businesses; mathematicians from Universities.)

b. Who should have input into the content of the revised curriculum?

Teacher_Ei_taliation

1. Who is responsible for evaluating your performance as a mathematics teacher?

2. Whom do you think should evaluate you?

3. On what basis is the evaluation made? (Are you observed teaching lessons aspart of the evaluation process? If so, how often?)

4. Did teachm have any input in the development of the evaluation procedure?Should they have?

5. Is an evaluation report submitted? Do you have any input into that report? Doyou feel that you should?

6. Have you had the opportunity to observe other math teachers teach? If so, howoften?

7. Do you mind being observed by the person evaluating you? By other mathteachers? Please explain.

Content Decisions

1. Who develops the overall objectives for the mathematics courses that you teach?Ideally, who would?

2. Who decides what content will be taught to reach those objectives? Who shouldmake those decisions?

3. Who determines how that content is to be organized and sequenced? Whoshould?

4. Who selects the tertbook that is used? Who do you feel should do the selection?

5. Who determines the types of activ les and materials that are to be used eachday to teach that content? Who should?

6. Who decides the format of the daily lessons? Who should?

cabligAul3glykt

I. What is your impression of how people in your community regard mathematicsteaching in relation to other professions?

2. Do you feel that the general public realizes the contribution that mathematicsteachers make to society. Do mathematicians from business? From universities?

3. Do you believe that mathematics teachers provide an important service not onlyto their students, but to society as a whole?

4. Do you think of yourself primarily as a teacher or as a mathematician? Why?

5. Which do you think is more important for mathematics teachers--additionaltraining in mathematics or additional training in instructional techniques?

6. Which do you enjoy moredoh/mathematics or teaching mathematics?

Assorted Issues

I. What control do you have over the daily content of your classes?

Do you feel the degree of control you have is appropriate?(Please explain your response.)

2. Do you feel you have the background and/or experience required to teach thesubject matter of all the mathematics classes offered at your school? (PLeaseexplain your response.)

3. Do you think the parents of your students are in a position to make a validjudgement as to how well mathematics is taught at your school? Why or whynot?

4. What are your reasons for teaching high school mathematics?

5. How does teaching high school mathematics fulfill your career goal?

Conceptions of Mathematics

I. What do you think mathematics is?

2. a. How has the collaborative affected your conception of what mathematicsis?

b. What interactions with representatives from business and ir dustry haveyou had through the collaborative? How have they affected yourconception of mathematics?

3. What do you want your students to get out of mathematics instruction?

4. How has your participation in the collaborative affected your goals for teachingmathematics?

5. What recommendations would you make to improve the mathematics curriculumin your school?

6. What are the key issues regarding mathematics education in your district andhow will they affect your school?

7. What has influenced your teaching of mathematics (i.e., coursework in college, ahigh school mathematics teacher, colleagues, teaching experience, thecollaborative)?

8. How has the collaborative affected your teaching of mathematics?

9. What do you think is the main purpose of high school?

10. How should students be assigned to high school mathematics coursts?(i.e., interest, ability, age)?

11. What do you think equity in mathematics education refers to?Can schools achieve equity? If so, how?

Impact of Collaborative

1. What effect has [insert the name of your collaborative] had on the mathematicsdepartment in your school? On the department head? Please explain.

2. In what ways do you view the mathematics curriculum in your schooldifferently as a result of the collaborative?

3. What effect has the collaborative had on your daily teaching?

4. What changes in your students' attitudes towards mathematics can you attributeto your participation in the collaborative?

5. In what way has your attitude towards your working conditions (i.e., classscheduling, release time, department office space, equipment, preparation time,cooperative planning) changed as a result of the collaborative? Have there beenany changes in your working conditions that can be attributed to thecollaborative?

6. What are the most significant changes that can be attributed, at least in part, cothe collaborative?

7. What effect has [insert the name of your collaborative] had on the way in whichyou perceive your role as a teacher? Please explain.

8. What impact has the collaborative had on your participation in mathematicsconferences or in professional organizations?

9. How has the collaborative helped or influenced your forming relationships withother mathematics teachers in -our school. With teachers in other schools?With other mathematicians in business/industry? In higher education?

10. What effect has the collaborative had regarding your involvement in school-related decision-making procedures (i.e., textbook selection, curriculumdecisions, assessment instruments)?

II Has your awareness of the current trends in mathematics education nationwideincreased as a result of the collaborative? Please explain.

12. What are the most significant changes that [you feel] can be attributed, at least in

part, to the collaborative?

13. What effect has [insert the name of your collaborative] had on the way in whichyou perceive your role as a teacher? Please explain.

14. What effect has the collaborative had regarding your involvement in school-related decision-making procedures (i.e., textbook selection, curriculumdecisions, assessment instruments)?

15. Has your awareness of the current trends in mathematics education nationwideincreased as a result of the collaborative? Please explain.

Teacher Leadership

1. What is your perception of a teacher as a leader?

2. In your own mind, think of teachers you look to as taking on leadership roles inyour school, in your district, in your community and in the collaborative.

a. Without indicating their identity, explain why you see them as leaders.

b. What qualities do they possess that indicate leadership?

c. What have they done? What role do they play?

d. Are they active in the collaborative? How?

3. How has the collaborative supported and encouraged teachers to assume leadershiproles?

4. Has the collaborative affected your own development (' leadership qualities? Ifso, how?

Teacher Professionalism

I. a. What role do mathematics organizations play in improving mathematicsinstruction?

b. What role should they play?

c. Are you a member of any professional organizations? (Please List)

2. a. What impact should mathematics teachers have on determing the basic contentthat is taught in their mathematics courses?

b. What impact do the mathematics teachers in your school have?

3. a. What role should mathematics teachers play in the evaluation of mathematicsteachers?

b. What role do the mathematics teachers in your school play in regard to theevaluation of other mathematics teachers?

4. Do you think of yourself primarily as a teacher or as a mathematician? Why?

5. What unique contributions to society are made by mathematics teachers that aredifferent from the contributions made by other professionals, including teachersof other subjects?

6. How has the collaborative enhanced your view of yourself as a professional?

I I ?

APPENDIX D

Large-Scale Surveys

Secondary Mathematics Teacher Questionnaire: Teacner Background Survey

Teacher Survey: Survey on Teacher Professionalism

Teacher Survey III: Survey on Mathematics Conceptions

Teacher Survey IV: Follow-up Survey on Teacher Professionalism

BEST COPY AVAILABLE

Urban Mathematics Collaborative Documentation Project Date

University of Wisconsiu-Madison (month) (day) (year)

SECONDARY MATHEMATICS TEACHER QUESTIONNAIRE

Please fill in today's date in the upper right hand corner and your

name, school, city, and state in the spaces provided below.

Name

School

(first) last)

'lity, State

Answer the questions on both sides of the following pages.

All responses will be strictly confidential. Only summary

information will be shared.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION IN COMPLETING THIS QUESTIONNAIRE.

SECTION A: BACKGROUND INFORMATION

I. Indicate your sex:

MaleFemale

2. indicate your ethnic origin:

(Circle cne)

1

2

(Circle one)a. White (not of Hispanic origin)b. Black (not of Hispanic origin) 2

c. hispanic 3

d. American Indian or Alaskan Native . 4e. Asian or Pacific Islander 5

f. Other (please specify) 6

3. how old are you? (optional)

4. How many years have you taught? (Include the currentyear as one full year.)

5. How many years have you taught each of the following?(Include the current year as one full yeai.)

a. Mathematicsb. Life sciencesc. Physical sciencesd. Earth sciencese. Computer nwareness, literacy, programming

6. Indicate whether you belong to each of the following professionalorganizations.

(Circle "Yes" or "No"for each organization)

Yls Noa. Aseociation for Computing Machinery . . . . I 2b. Azsociation for Educational Data Systems . . . I 2

c. Mathematical Association of America 1 2

d. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics . . 1 2

e.

f.

School Science and Mathematics Association .

National Association of Science and1 2

Mathematics Teachers 1 2

g. Statee:evel mathematics education organization. 1 2

h. Local mathematics education organization . . . 1 2

7. What is the highest academic degre. you have earned?

Circle one: a. No Degree b. Associate c. Bachelor's

d. Master's e. Specialist or 6-Year Certificate f. Doctorate

For this degree, please indicate:

a. Your major:

b. The Insitution that granted the degree:

c. The year the degree was completed:

8. Check the box that best represents the number of all TADERGRADUATE andGRADUATE credit hours (semester or quarter) you have accumulated in each

of the course areas listed.

SEMESTER OR

EDUCATION COURSES:

Non1

to

5

5

to

8

9

to

12

13

to

24

25

ormore

a. Methods of teachingsecondary schoolmathematics

. Instructional uses o__Emittersc. Other education

courses

MATHEMATICS ANDSCIENCE COURSESd. College algebra,

trigonometry,

elementary calculus. Advanced calculus,

differentialequations

a4....__itqeum

f. Upper divisionprobability,statistics

g. Upper divisionabstract algebra,linear algebra,number theory

A

. Mathematic'sl problem

solving, applicationsof mathematics

. Founuat ons, istory

or philosophy ofmathematics

III17ComideTTClence

Ini 1

QUARTER

I on-

1

to

6

7 13to to

i2 18 .1,1

19

to

37

or

more

IIIIIIIIIIIII

,

i

.1

9. In what year did you last take acourse for college credit in

mathematics (not including computer courses) or ir Ale teaching ofmathematics?

10. What type of state teaching certificatim) do you have?

Date(Circle all that apply) Issued

a. Regular certification 1

b. Temperary or emergency certification 2

c. Other certification 3

d. Not certified . . . 4 - SKIP TOQUESTION 12

11. In which subject areas do youcertification?

a. I do not have specializedparticular subject area

b. Mathematicsc. Science (general)d. Biologye. Chemistryf. Physicsg. Earth/space scienceh. Computer sciencei. Other (please specify)

have specialized state teaching

Date(Circle all that apply) Issued

certification in any

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

SECTION 8: STAFF DEVELOPMENT

12. During the last 12 months, what is the total amount of time you havespent on staff development in mathematics or the teaching of mathematics.(Include attendance at professional meetings, workshops, and conferences,but do not include formal courses either for college credit or CEU's.)

a. Noneb. Less than ole dayc. 1-2 daysd. 3-5 daysa. More than 5 days

(Circle one)1 (SKIP TO QUESTION 15)2

3

4

5

If you circled None (Number 1) SKIP TO QUESTION 15.

13. Indicate the sponsors or co-sponsors of these meetings, workshops, orconferences.

(Circle all that apply)Your local school or district 1

Your state education agency 2

Private industry 3

A college or university 4

A professional association 5

National Science Foundation 6

National Aeronautics and Space Administration 7

U. S. Department of Energy 8

U. S. Department of Education 9

Other 10

Math collaboratives (please specify) 11

14. What support have you received for attending these professionalmeetings, workshops, and conferences?

(Circle all that apply)

Released time from teachingTravel 2

Stipends 3

None 4

Other (please specify)

:111..Imm=em

15. On a scale of 1 to 5, how convenient would you find each of the followingtimes for in-service programa?

(Circle one on each line)

VeryConvenient

VeryInconvenient

After school 1 2 3 4 5

Evenings 1 2 3 4 5

Weekends 1 2 3 4 5

Summers 1 2 3 4 !

Teacher work days 1 2 3 4 5

23

16. How would you rate each oi the following possible locations forin-service programs?

At home (e.g., via TV, tele-

(Circle one onExcellent Good

each line)

Fair Poor

communications, or correspondence . . 1 2 3 4

Your school building 1 2 3 4

Another location in your district . 1 2 3 4

A local business or industry 1 2 3 4

A regional site, accessible toteachers from several districts . . . 1 2 3 4

A college or university 1 2 3 4

17. Think about a specific mathematics topic that you find difficult toteach.

a. What is the topic?

b. On a scale of 1 to 5, how useful would each of the following beto you in facilitating your teaching of that topic?

(Circle

Not

Useful

one on each line)

ExtremelyUseful

Learning more mathematics 1 2 3 4 5

Lesrning more about about applicationsof the mathematics 1 2 3 4 5

Learning new teaching methods 1 2 3 4 r.,

Learning about availableinstructional resources 1 2 3 4 5

Help in use of computscs 1 2 3 4 5

More money to buy instructionalmaterials 1 2 3 4 5

Discussing with other teacherswhat works for them 1 2 3 4 5

Observing a skilled teacherteaching that topic 1 2 3 4 5

Having time to developinstructional materials 1 2 3 4 5

More clams .time to teachthe topic 1 2 3 4 5

124

SECTION C: MATHEMATICS INSTRUCTION IN YOUR SCHOOL

18. The following.factors may affect mathematics instruction in your schoolas a whole. In your opinion, how great a problem is causud by each ofthe following?

a.

(Circle one on each line)

Somewhat Not aSerious of a SignificantProblem Problem Problem

Belief that mathematics isless important than othersubjects 1 2 3

b.

c.

Inadequate facilitiesInsufficient fundl for purchasing

1 2 3

d.

equipment ano suppliesInsufficient numbers of

1 2 3

e.

textbooksPoor quality of instructional

1 2 3

materials 1 2 3

f.

g.

Inadequate access to computers .Lack of student interest in

1 2 3

h.

mathematicsInadequate student reading

1 2 3

i.

abilitiesDifficulty in maintaining

1 2 3

j.

disciplineNot enough time to teach

1 2 3

k.

mathematicsLack of teacher interest in

1 2 3

mathematics 1 2 3

1. Teachers inadequately preparedto teach mathematics 1 2 3

m.

n.

Student absencesMainstreaming of handicapped

1 2 3

o.

students"Pull-out" of students; e.g.,Chapter 1, learning disabled .

1

1

2

2

3

3

p.

q.

Lack of teacher planning timeInadequate articulation of

1 2 3

instruction across grade levels 1 2 3

r.

s.

Class sizes too largeInadequate diversity of

1 2 3

t.

mathematics electivesLow enrollments in mathematics

1 2 3

courses 1 2 3

u. Other (specify) 1 2 3

BEST CCP AVAILACLE

19. Are youIf yes,

numbers

currently teaching any courses you are not certifl teach?write in the code for this course. (Refer to the list of codeen page 14.)

Yes . I Please specify:

No . 2

a.

b.

C.

Code No.

20. Are you currently teaching any courses that you do not feel adequatelyqualified, to teach? If yes, write in the code for the course. (Refer tothe list of code numbers on page 14.)

Yes . 1 Please specify:

No 2

SECTION D: YOUR MATHEMATICS TEACHING

Code No.

The remaining questions relate to your mathematics teaching in a particularclass. If you teach more than one class of mathematics per day, select oneclass for which these questions should be answered.

21. a. What is the title of this course?

b. Indicate the code number of this course.(Refer to the list of code numbers at the end of the questionnaire.)

22. a. How many students are there in this class?

b. Please indicate the number of students in this class in eachrace/sex category:

White (not of Hispanic origin)Black (not of Hispanic origin)HispanicAsian or Pacific IslanderAmerican Indian or Alaskan NativeOther:

(Please specify)

Male Female

.=11111.0 .,abMINIM.11111..lim

0=11111111111=9 00.111,

23. What is the duration of this course?

(Circle one)

Year 1

Semester 2

Quarter 3

Other 4

(Please specify)

24. The ability makeup of this class is best described by which of the

following? (Comparison should be with the $merage student in the grade.)

(Circle one)

Composed primarily of high ability students . . . 1

Composed primarily of low ability students . . . . 2

Composed primarily of average ability students . 3

Composed of students of widely differingability levels 4

25. On the average, about what percentage of this class's time allocated formathematics instruction is spent in each of the following activities?

a. Daily routines (such as passing out materials) .

b. Interruptions (such as fire drills, schoolannouncements, etc.)

c. Getting students to behave

d. Instruction

Percent

IMEMIMIIIMEIMs

ANIMI

Total lOC1

26. Think about your plans for this class for the entire course. On a scaleof 0 to 5, how much emphasis will each of the following objectivesreceive? (Circle one on each line.)

a. Become interested in

NoneMinimalEmphasis

VeryHeavyEmphasis

b.

c.

mathematics

Know mathematical facts,principles, algorithms,or vrocedures

Develop an attitude of

0

0

1

1

2

2

3

3

4

4

5

5

d.

inquiry

Develop an awareness ofthe importance ofmathematics in everyday

0 1 2 3 4 5

e.

life

Perform computations with

0 1 2 3 4 5

f.

speed and accuracy

Develop an awareness ofthe importance ofmathematics in the basic

0 1 2 3 4 5

g.

and applied sciences

Develop a systematicapproach to solving

0 1 2 3 4 5

h.

problems?

Learn about the career

0 1 2 3 4 5

relevance of mathematics 0 1 2 3 4 5

27. How often do you use each of the following techniques in teachingmathematics to this class? If a technique does not apply to your class,please circle 1, "Never."

Less At At

Than Least Least JustOnce Once Once Abouta a a

Never Month Month Week Daily

a. Lecture 1 2 3 4 5

b. Dlscussion 1 2 3 4 5

c. Student reports or projecte . 1 2 3 4 5

d. Library work 1 2 3 4 5

e. Students working at chalkboard 1 2 3 4 5

f. Student using computers . . . 1 2 3 4 5

g.

h.

i.

Students using calculators

Students using hands-on,manipulative materials .

Students doing seatworkassigned from the

1

1

2

2

3

3

4

4

5

5

j.

textbook . . .

Students completing

1 2 3 4 5

k.

supplemental worksheets . .

Students working in teacher-

1 2 3 4

led small groups 1 2 3 4 5

1. Students worLing in peer-led

m.

small grow.

Student-to-student

1 2 3 4 5

tutoring 1 2 3 4 5

n. Field trips, excursions . . 1 2 3 4 5

o. Guest speakers I 2 3 4 5

p. Teacher demonstrations . . 1 2 3 4 5

q. Tests or quizzes 1 2 3 4 5

r. Homework assignments . . . . 1 2 3 4 5

28. For the follawing equipment and materials, please indicate theapproximate number of days each is used in this mathematics class duringthe entire course. For those that you do not use, circle either 1, "Notneeded" or 2, "Needed but not available."

(Circle one on each line)

Not

Needed

NOT USED

LessThan 10Days

USED

MoreMan 50Days

NeededBut NotAvailable

Between10 and 50pas

1

a. Games and puzzles 1 2 3 4 5

b.

c.

Handheld calculators

Computers or

1 2 3 4 5

d.

computer terminals

Metric measurementtools (rulers,containers,weights, etc.)

1

1

2

2

3

3

4

4

5

5

e. Nonmetric measurement 1 2 3 4 5

f.

g.

Activity cards or kits

Numeration and placevalue manipulative

1 2 3 4 5

(rods, blocks, etc.) 1 2 3 4 5

h. Geometric tools 1 2 3 4 5

i. Models and solids 1 2 3 4 5

J.

k.

Graph paper

Audio v4sualmaterials (including

1 2 3 4 5

overhead projector) 1 2 3 4 5

29. a. Are you using one or more published textbooks or programs forteaching mathematics to this class?

YesNo

(Circle one)1 (GO TO QUESTION 30)

2 (GO TO QUESTION 29b)

b. Briefly describe what you are using instead of a publishedtextbook or program. THEN SKIP TO QUESTION 32.

1)71001411.1.11.1

30. Indicate the title, author, publisher, copyright date, and edition ofthe one textbook/program used most often by the students in this class.

Title:

Author:

Publisher:

Edition:

Copyright Date:

31. Approximately what percentage of the textbook will you "cover" in this

course?

(Circle one)

Less than 25% 1

26-40% 2

41-65% 3

66-80% 4

81-90% 5

More than 90% 6

32. Are computers (microcomputers or mainframe) available for use with this

class?

Yes '1 (GO TO QUES1"ON 33)

No 2 (GO TO QUESTION 36)

33. How many computers are available for student use?

110.M.1.16=11M

terminals

microcomputers

131

34. How does your class Ine computers? (Circle all that apply)

a. Teacher demonstration using a computer 1

b. Learning !vow to program 2

c. Learning mathematics content 3

d. Drill and practice 4

e. Using simulations 5

f. Using computer graphics 6

g. Games . ... 7

h. Testing and evaluation 8

i. Other 100000 00 OOOOOOOOOOO 9

35. On the average, hov nem minutes per week does a typical student spendworking with computers?

minutes/weekMeNMEMMINIMMIRINIIIIfatRAIMII1112110.1.11011.1.111110WIINIIMIN,IIMMINVIMAMOIIVI

36. Do you encourage students to use calculators for the folloulng things in

this class?

(Circle one

Yes

on each line)

No

a. Checking answers 1 2

b. Doing computations . . . 1 2

c. Solving problems 1 2

d. Taking tests 1 2

37. On the average, how many minutes of mathematics homework is the typicalstudent in this class expected to complete each day?

minutes/day

PLEASE GO BACK AND CHECK THAT YOU HAVE RESPONDED TO ALL THEAPPROPRIATE ITEMS. THANK YOU!

CODE LIST FOR COURSE TITLES

SECONDARY ONLY

MATHEMATICS 201 Mathematics, grade 7202 Mathematics, grade 8

203 General mathematics, grade 9

204 General mathematics, grades 10-12

205 Business mathematics

206 Consumer mathematics

207 Pre-algebra/introduction to algebra

208 First-year algebra

209 Second-year algebra

210 Geometry211 Trigonometry212 Probability/statistics

213 Intro, computer awareness or literacy

214 Advanced computer programming

215 Computer programming

216 Advanced placement computer science

217 Remedial218 Advanced219 Advanced

calculus220 Calculus221 Advanced

mathematicssenior mathematics, not including calculuesenior mathematics, including WM

placement calculus

222 Other mathematics

Urban Collaborative Documentation Project Date

University of Wisconsin - Madison (month) (day) (year)

TEACHER SURVEY

Please fill in today's date in the upper right hand corner and your

name, school, city, and state in the spaces provided below. Then

indicate your level of participation in Collaborative activities by

circling the most appropriate response.

Name

School

City, State

Level of Participation in Collaborative Activities

Circle One: Never Occasionally Frequently

Answer the questions on both sides of the following pages. Then return

the completed questionnaire in the envelope provided. Please seal the

envelope and print your name on the outside. (Envelopes will not be

opened until they reach Madison.)

All responses will be strictly confidential. Only summary information

will be shared.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION IN COMPLETING THIS SURVEY.

134

The following questions are an attempt to gather information about theimpressions of high school math teachers regarding a variety of issues. Someitems should be answered in light of the way Loluersonally. feel and behave as ahigh school math teacher, while other items ask your perceptions of how mathteachers in &Erma feel and behave.

There are five possible responses to each item. If you STRONGLY AGREE withthe statement, in that it corresponds to your own attitudes or behavior, or toyour impression of the attitudes or behavior of math teachers in general, circlethat response. Similarly, if you AGREE, DISAGREE, or STRONGLY DISAGREE with thestatement, mark the appropriate response. The middle category, NEUTRAL, isdesigned to indicate that you have no opinion about the statement. Pleaseanswer all items, making sure that you have circled only ONE response for eachitem.

1. I feel out of place meeting with mathematicians from businesses anduniversities.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE

STRONGLYDISAGREE

2. Math teachers believe in the social benefits of their work.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE

STRONGLYDISAGREE

3. I believe that professional organizations of math teachers should set thestandards and requirements for teaching mathematics.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEJTTRAL DISAGREE

STRONGLYDISAGREE

4. I don't have the opportunity to exercise my own judgment in my work.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE

STRONGLYDISAGREE

5. Math teachers regularly read journals and publications about mathematicsand its applications.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE

STRONGLYDISAGREE

6. Math i-elieve parents are in a good position to judge how wellmathemts is taught in their children's schools.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREL

STRONGLYDISAGREE

1 5

7. Met teachers thin% that it is more important to receive continued training

in mathematics than it is to receive training in effective ways to teach

and manage mathematics classes.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE

STRONGLYDISAGREE

8. I think that the importance of teaching high school mathematics is widely

recognized by others.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE

STRONGLY

NEUTRAL DISAGREE DISAGREE

9. Math teachers display dedication to their work.

STRONGLY

AGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE

STRONGLYDISAGREE

10. Math teachers think too much control over their work is exercised by people

who lack mathematical expertise.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE

STRONGLYDISAGREE

11. In my view, math teachers should have more freedom to collectively make

decisions about their own work.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE

STRONGLYDISAGREE

12. I think of myself first as a teacher, then as a mathematician.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE

STRONGLYDISAGREE

13. I feel that even with professional contacts, it is difficult to maintain

enthusiasm about teaching mathematics.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE

STRONGLY

NEUTRAL DISAGREE DISAGREE

14. I believe I have a high level of competence in the subject matter of all

high school mathematics courses.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE

STRONGLYDISAGREE

23. Math teachers feel that their contribution to society is not recognized by

business and university mathematicians.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE

STRONGLYDISAGREE

24. hlbh school math teachers are teachers primarily because they enjoy working

with young people.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE

STRONGLY

NEUTRAL DISAGREE DISAGREE

25. I regularly attend professional meetings and dinners organized by

professional mathematics education organizations at the local level.

STRONGLYAGREE g;REE NEUTRAL DISAGREE

STRONGLYDISAGREE

26. Math teachers believe that any weakening in the teaching of mathematics as

a professlon would be harmful for society.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE

STRONGLY

NEUTRAL DISAGREE DISAGREE

27. Math teachers think reforms in school mathematics should evolve from and be

implemented through the professional mathematics education organizations.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE

STRONGLYDISAGREE

28. I think that local profIssional mathematics education organizations do not

do much for the average math teacher.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE

STRONGLYDISAGREE

29. Math teachers in my school are able to judge how well our mathematics

department is doing.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE

STRONGLYDISAGREE

30. Math teachers hold their own in discussions with business and university

mathematicians.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE

STRONGLY

DISAGREE

138

31. High school math teachers consider themselves as teachers more so than asmathematicians.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE

STRONGLYNEUTRAL DISAGREE DISAGREE

32. In practice, math teachers are the ones who determine what is actuallytaught in the courses they teach.

STRONGLY

AGREE AGREESTRONGLY

NEUTRAL DISAGREE DISAGREE

33. Math teachers believe they have the control that they should have overtheir everyday work.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE

STRONGLYDISAGREE

34. Math teachers feel that the public does not realize the contribution thatmath teachers make to society.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE

STRONGLYDISAGREE

35. Math teachers feel they have an important contribution to make indiscussions with business and university mathematicians.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE

STRONGLY

NEUTRAL DISAGREE DISAGREE

36. Math teachers think that they should be evaluated only by other mathteachers.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE

STRONGLYDISAGREE

37. Math teachers make decisions about their everyday work.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE

STRONGLYDISAGREE

38. I think district administrators should have the final responsibility forwhat is taught in school mathematics.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE

STRONGLYDISAGREE

13 (,)

39. I teach because I enjoy mathematics.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE

STRONGLYDISAGREE

40. Math teachers are the most appropriate people to make decisions aboutmethods of instruction.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE

STRONGLYDISAGREE

41. I believe that because of the degree of specialized knowledge required inteaching mathematics, only math teachers are competent to judge how wellother math teachers do their work.

STRONGLYAGOE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE

STRONGLYDISAGREE

42. I would stay in the teaching of mathematics even if my salary were reduced.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE

STRONGLYDISAGREE

43. I make my own decisions in regard to my everyday work.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE

STRONGLYDISAGREE

Please go back and check that you havecircled a response for each item.

THANK YOU.

14 (1

Urban Mathematics Collaborative Documentation Project DateUniversity of Wisconsin--Madison (month) (day) (year)

Teacher Survey ill

Please fill in today's date in the upper right hand corner 01 this booklet and your name, school.city, and state in the spaces provided below.

Name

School

City, State

Mathematics CoursesYou Teach Currently

(first) (last)

Grade Level

Please circle the letter which Jest describes your level of participation in your collaborative:

A. FrequentB. OccasionalC. Never

This survey contains 65 statements designed to gather information about your opinions regardingfive areas of mathematics:

I. Your Conceptions of MathematicsII. Your Conceptions of Mathematics Teaching

III. Your Conceptions of Recommended Changes in Mathematics CurriculumIV. Your Conceptions of Mathematics EducationV. Your Conceptions of Schooling

Please read each statement carefully, but do not spend too much time on any one item.Remember, there are no right or wrong answers. All responses will be strictly confidential. Onlysummary information will be shared.

Thank you for your participation in completing this survey.

141

Conceptions of Mathematics

The statements listed below portray a variety of viewpoints as to the nature of mathematics.Please rate each statement on a 5-point scale, according to how strongly you agree that eachstatement reflects mg own concept of mathematics. (The number 5 indicates that you stronglyagree with the statement and the number 1 indicates that you strongly disagree with the statement.A rating of 3 indicates that you are undecided whether the statement reflects your concept ofmathematics.)

Agree DisagreeStrongly Neutral Strongly

Mathematics is a process in which abstract ideasare applied to solve real-world problems.

2. Mathematics is a language, with its ownprecise meaning and grammar, used to representand communicate ideas.

3. Mathematics is a collection of conceptsand skills used to obtain answers to problems.

4. Mathematics is thinking in a logical,scientific, inquisitive manner and is used todevelop understanding.

5. Mathematics is facts, skills, rules and conceptslearned in some sequence and applied in workand future study.

6. Mathematics is an interconnected logicalsystem, is dynamic, and changes as new problem-solving situations arise. It is formed bythinking about actions and experiences.

5 4 3 2 1

5 4 3 2

5 4 3 2

5 4 3 2 I

5 4 3 2 I

5 4 3 2 1

7. Please write in the spaces below the numbers of the 6 above statements, in the order thatthey reflect your belief of what mathematics is.

MostReflective

411111.0111MINNIM

LeastReflective

8. Please feel free to comment on any important aspect, not mentioned above, that reflectsmg concept of mathematics.

Conceptions of Mathematics Teaching

The following statements are sometimes cited as important goals for teaching mathematics in

schools. Please rate each goal on the 5-point scale as to its importance to you teaching ofmathematics. (The number 5 indicates that the goal is very important to you teaching, and thenumber 1 indicates that the goal is very unimportant to your teaching. The number 3 indicates

that you are undecided as to the goal's importance to your teaching.)

Very Veryimportant Neutral Unimportant

9. To enable students to master a hierarchy ofconcepts and skills and to use these in solvingproblems.

10. To provide experiences for students to knowmathematics as originating in real-worldsituations and to have the power of using asmall set of symbols to represeat and solve awide range of problems.

11. To enable students to use mathematicalprocedures to solve problems and mathematicalconcepts to model both abstract and real-worldsituations.

12. To provide students with complete understandingof the meaning(s) of mathematical concepts andenable them to communicate ideas using correctmathematical symbols, rules and reasoning.

13. To prepare students for work and future studyby having them master a sequence of facts,paper-and-pencil skills, rules and concepts.

14. To enable students to use mathematics to exploresituations in an inquisitive manner, and to offerand test hypotheses by logical reasoning, for thepurpose of developing a more completeunderstanding of the situation.

5 4 3 2

5 4 3 2 1

5 4 3 2 I

5 4 3 2 1

5 4 3 2 1

5 4 3 2 1

15. Please write in the spaces below the numbers of the 6 above statements, In the order thatthey reflect your belief of what the important goals for teaching mathematics are.

MostReflective

0.1.11,11=.11111 .111111MIM-MINMO

LeastRefItctive

16. Please feel free to comment on any important aspect, not mentioned above, that reflectsyour concept of mathematics teaching.

Conceptions of Recommended Change

Some recent recommendations for high school mathematics are listed below. Please t ad eachrecommendation and rate it in terms of its importance to you mathematics curriculum. (The number5 indicates that the recommendation is very important to your curriculum and the number 1 indicatesthat the recommendation is very unimportant to your curriculum. A rating of 3 indicates that youare undecided as to the recommendation's importance.)

Very VeryImportant Neutral Unimpok tant

17. Calculators and computers should be introducedinto mathematics courses to enhanceunderstanding and problem solving, and to takethe drudgery out of computations. Presentationof topics needs to be revised based on freshapproaches possible with new technologies.

18, Traditional high school mathematics coursesneed to be integrated and unified to showinterrelationships across topics andapplications.

19. Alternative mathematics courses should beavailable for students who are planning aoi, togo t000llege or who are planning not to takea college major with high mathematics content.

20. More emphasis should be given to simplemental computation, estimation andapproximation, and less to practicing lengthypaper and pencil calculation.

21. More topics and techniques from discretemathematics, statistics and probability shouldbe introduced into the high school curriculum.

22. Mathematical modeling and problem-solvingshould be incorporated as a central featurein high school mathematics, and should beintegrated into other parts of schoolcurricula (such as science and social studies).

23. Pre-service and in-service teacher educationprograms need to be developed that trainteachers in individual and small-group teaching,the usli$ of technology, and research.

24. Schools must adopt differential staffing patternsand career ladders for mativ natio teachers byappointing master teachers to develop, coordinateand supervise new programs.

5 4 3 2 1

5 4 3 2 1

5 4 3 2

5 4 3 2 1

5 4 3 2 1

5 4 3 2 1

4 3 2 1

5 4 3 1

Very VeryImportant Neutral Unimportant

25. Mathematics teachers should be encoui aged tobecome members of professional mathematicalsocieties and to attend regional and nationalmeetings.

26. A core mathematics program should provideoptional tracks and electives, and theopportunity for every student through Grade10 to prepare for college entry.

27. A state-level prognostic test in mathematicsshould be administered to all students in Grade 9or 10 to determine if they are ready to pursuefurther math-related work or study, or if theyare in need of remediation or course changes.Results of such tests would not be availabk forthe purpose of college admission or to evaluateteachers.

28. Increased funding should be made available forthe development of improved, appropriatematerials, diagnostic techniques and teachingstrategies for remedial programs.

29. Strong efforts musL be made to increase theawareness of the importance of mathematicsamong all members of the community, especiallyamong parents of school age children.

30. A core mathematics program should beestablished which requires all students to studymathematics through Grade 11.

31. Special efforts should be made to identifymathematically talented students, especiallyminorities and women, and to encourage them topursue careers in mathematics, science andmathematics education.

32. Parents should have the option of sending theirchildren to the public school of their choice.

5 4 3 2 1

5 4 3 2 1

5 4 3 2 1

5 4 3 2 1

5 4 3 2 1

5 4 3 2 1

5 4 3 2 1

5 4 3 2 1

33. Memo fee1 free to comment on any important aspect, not mentioned above, that you wouldrecommend as a change in your mathematics curriculum.

Conceptions of Mathematics Education

Below are listed staatements pertaining to some issues and problems that mathematics teachers facewith varying degrees of regularity. Please read each item carefully and rate it on the 5-point scaleprovided, to the extent that you agree with it. (On this scale, the number 5 indicates that you agreestronaly, with the item. The number 1 indicates that you disagree stronatx. The number 3 indicatesthat your feelings are neutral towards the item.)

Agree DisagreeStrongly Neutral Strongly

34. Mathematics teachers' primary responsibilityis keeping order, keeping students busy andproductive in the classroom, and coveringall the material.

35. Calculators and computers can facilitate thelearning of mathematics. Hands-on experiencewith changing technology should be incorporatedas an integral part of mathematics instruction.

36. Special applications, real-world problems andextra-curricular activities must be tailored tothe needs and abilities of each student to helpthem excel.

37. Mathematics teachers must teach-students tocommunicate using conventional mathematicalsigns, symbols and vocabulary.

38. Mathematical analysis, interpretation andinquiry should be taught concurrently withthe basic skills. Students must be taughtto use mathematics to gain understandingof a variety of phenomena.

39. Mathematics teachers have the responsibility toteach the requisite skills for subsequentcourses.

40. Mathematical skills and rules should not betaught in isolation. Mathematics needs to bediscovered by students through appliedproblem-solving.

41. Mathematics teachers sometime3 have to sacrificethe broader aims of the course in order to spendmore time bringing the entire class up to aminimum competency level.

42. Mathematics teachers should demand strictadherence to methods and notations used in class.

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43. It is difficult to obtain objeetive evidence ofstudent mathematics achievement. The processof learning mathematics is unique to theindividual, and does not lend itself readily tostandardized evaluation.

44. It is good for students to see mathematicsteachers make mistakes. It helps themunderstand that making their own mistakesis part of the science of mathematical thinking.

45. Mathematics is an enjoyable discipline.

46. Mathematics teachers have the responsibilityto teach the requisite skills for futureemployment.

47. The results of standardized tests greatlyinfluence what mathematics is taught.

48. All students should be required to pass aminimum competency test in mathematics tograduate from high school.

49. The greatest influence on my teaching ofmathematics was my high school mathematicsteacher(s)

50. The greatest influence on my teaching ofmathematics was my coursework in collegeand/or teacher education.

51. The greatest influence on my teaching ofmathematics has been my colleagues who areteachers.

52. I enjoy teaching mathematics.

AgreeStrongly Neutral

DisagreeStrongly

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53. Please feel free to comment on any important aspect, not mentioned above, that you wouldrecommend as a change in your mathematics curriculum.

....10

147

Conceptions of Schooling

The following items are concerned with nu conceptions about the purpose, functions and goals ofschools in our society. Please read each item carefully and rate it according to the priority mig wouldassign it as it relates to what you see as the overall purpose of schooling. (a 5 indicates that you wouldassign a very high priority to the item and a 1 indicates that you would assign a very low priority tothe item. A rating of 3 indicates that you are undecided where you would assign the item.)

Very High Very LowPriority Neutral Priority

54. Schools should provide an opportunity forchildren to pursue their own talents,interests and creative abilities.

55. School curricula should function to preserve thetraditions of society and the stability of oursocial instituti ins. Schools should be accountableto their local community as to how they areachieving these aims.

56. Schools should group students according tosimilar needs, interests and abilities,rather than according to age.

57. A major role of schools is to transmit theknowledge and skills associated with differentbranches of learning.

58. Schools must be innovative to ensure that wemaintain a dynamic and expanding society.

59. Schools must offset inequalities by providingspecial opportunities to disadvantaged students.

60. Schools should be seen by students as placeswhere they may find personal fulfillment,gain satisfaction from achieving their individualneeds, and develop confidence in finding futuredirection.

61. To make an easy transition from school to thework place, schools should be places wherestudents develop proper work values and learnto adapt to large groups, and where rewards areseen as both immediate (grades) and future(promise of employment).

62. Competition is an important component ofschooling, both to motivate learning and aspreparation for adult life.

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63. Schools must train students to learn and applyrules, follow instructions, absorb facts andmemorize detail.

64. Society must decide which years of a child'slife shall be spent in formal learning, teachersmust be responsible for determining theappropriate time to allocate materials, andstudents must learn to use their study timeeffectively.

65. Schools exist to develop students' abilitiesto think, solve problems and make decisionsby means of thorough training in academicdisciplines.

66. Schools must allocav.: iesources equally amongall students, regardless of social, ethnic or .

other personal background.

67. Schools should be places that children feel aresafe havens from the streets. Children mustfeel comfortable with teachers, administrationand other students.

68. Schools should be for students who want tolearn and who are willing to work, and not asocial agency for attending to all the needsof school-age children.

Very HighPriority Neutral

Very LowPriority

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69. Please feel free to comment on any important issue or problem, not mentioned above, that youfeel pertains to the purpose, functions and goals of schools in our ...ociety.

UMC Documentation Project DateUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison nrijiar rfiTrr

TEACHER SURVEY IV

?lease fill in today's date in the upper right hand corner. In the spaces provided below, write

your name, school, city, state, courses now teaching, and the grade level(s) of the students.

Then indicate your.leveUof participation in the collaborative by circling how often you

participate in cogaborative activities.

NameInt

School

City, State

ast

litILsiSasualialSauxualt Teaching Grade Level(s)

=1111.

Level of Participation in the collaborative:

Circle One: Never Occasionally Frequently

Answer the questions on both sides of the following pages. Then return the completed

questionnaire to the designated person in the envelope provided. Please seal the envelope and

print your mime on the outside. (The envelope will not be opened until it reaches the UMCDocumentation Project at the University of Wisconsin.)

AU responses will be strictly confidential. Only summary information will be shared.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION IN COMPLETING THIS SURVEY.

1 5 ()

Instruction&

The following questions are designed to gather information about the impressions of high

school mathematics teachers regarding it variety of issues. Some items should be answered in

light of the way 9 I personally feel and behave as a high school mathematics teacher, while

other items ask your perceptions of how inallmatiminchgrajnal feel and behave.

There are five possible responses to each item. If you STRONGLY AGREE with the

statement, in that it corresponds to your own attitudes or behavior, or to your impression of

the attitudes or behavior of mathematics teachers in general, circle that response. Similarly, if

you AGREE, DISAGREE, or STRONGLY DISAGREE with the statement, mark the

appropriate response. The middle category, NEUTRAL, is designed to indicate that you have

no opinion about the statement. Please answer gjj items, making sure that you have circled

only ONE response for each item.

Circle the most appropriate response.

1. I feel out of place meeting with mathematicians from businesses and universities.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL

STRONGLYDLSAGREE DISAGREE

2. Mathematics teachers believe in the social benefits of their work.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL

STRONGLYDISAGREE DISAGREE

3. I believe that professional organizations of mathematics teachers should set thestandards and requirements for teaching mathematics.

STRONGLY STRONGLY

AGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE DISAGREE

4. I don't have the opportunity to exercise my own judgement in my work.

STRONGLY STRONGLYAGLIEE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE DLSAGREE

5. Mathematics teachers regularly read journals and publications about mathematicsand its applications.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL

STRONGLYDISAGREE DISAGREE

6. The collaborative has helped me to develop leadership qualities.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL

STRONGLYDISAGREE DISAGREE

7. Mathematics teachers believe parents are in a good position to judge how wellmathematics is taught in their children's schools.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE

STRONGLYNEUTRAL DISAGREE DISAGREE

8. Mathematics teachers think thftt it 's more important to receive continued trainingin mathematics than it is to roc& . training in effective ways to teach andmanage mathematics classes.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE

STRONGLYNEUTRAL DISAGREE DISAGREE

(Please turn the page.)

9. Mathematics teachers have a major responsibility to ensure that all studentshave equal opportunity to learn mathematics.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE

STRONGLYNEUTRAL DISAGREE DISAGREE

10. I think that the importance of teaching high school mathematics is widelyrecognized by others.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL

STRONGLYDISAGREE DISAGREE

11. Mathematics teachers display dedication to their work.

STRONGLY STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DLSAGREE DISAGREE

12. Mathematics teachers think too much control over their work is exercised by peoplewho lack mathematical expertise.

STRONGLYAGREE AGRE2 NEUTRAL

STRONGLYDISAGREE DISAGREE

13. The colktorative has raised my awareness of equity issues concerning schoolmathemmics.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE

STRONGLYDISAGREE

14. In my view, mathematics teachers should have more freedom to collectively makedecisions about their own work.

STRONGLY STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE DISAGREE

15. I think of myself first as a teacher, then as a mathematician.

STRONGLY STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE DISAGREE

16. The collaborative has enhanced the professional lives of mathematics teachers.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE

STRONGLYNEUTRAL DISAGREE DISAGREE

17. I feel that even with professional contacts, it is difficult to maintainenthusiasm about temng mathematics.

STRONGLY STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE DISAGREE

18. I believe I have a high level of competence in the subject matter of all highschool mathematics courses.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL

STRONGLYDISAGREE DISAGREE

19. I believe that the final decision on the content of mathematics instructionshould be made by individual mathematics teachers.

STRONGLY STRONGLY

AGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE DISAGREE

20. I believe that professional mathematics education organizations at the locallevel should play a vital role in changing school mathematics.

STRONGLY .STRONGLY

AGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DLSAGREE DISAGREE

21. I believe that time I spend on continued training in mathematics is well spent.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL

STRONGLYDISAGREE DISAGREE

22. I believe my work as a mathematics teacher is not appreciated by most people.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL

STRONGLYDISAGREE DISAGREE

23. Decisions I make in my daily work should be subject to review by the chairof our mathematics department.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL

STRONGLYDISAGREE DISAGREE

24. Mathematics teachers believe it is important to support professional mathematicseducation organizations at the local level.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL

STRONGLYDISAGREE DISAGREE

(Please turn the page.)

I 5 4

25. I think that the teaching of mathematics is essential in our soeety.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL

STRONGLYDLSAGREE DISAGREE

26. The collaborative has contributed to teachers assuming leadership roles.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL

STRONGLYDISAGREE DISAGREE

27. Mathematics teachers feel it is important to have the opportunity to meet withbusiness and university mathematicians on an equal level.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL

STRONGLYDISAGREE DLSAGREE

28. Mathematics teachers feel that their contribution to society is not recognized bybusiness and university mathematicians.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL

STRONGLYDISAGREE DISAGREE

29. Mathematics teachers are teachers primarily because they enjoy working with youngpeople.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL

STRONGLYDISAGREE DISAGREE

30. I regularly attend professional meetings and dinners organized by professionalmathematics education organizations at the local level.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE

STRONGLYNEUTRAL DISAGREE DISAGREE

31. Mathematics teachers believe that any weakening in the teaching of mathematics as aprofession would be harmful for society.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL

STRONGLYDISAGREE DLSAGREE

32. Mathematics teachers think reforms in school mathematics should evolve from and beimplemented through the professional mathematics education organizations.

SMONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL

STRONGLYDISAGREE DISAGREE

33. I think Oat local professional mathematics education orga -ations do not domuch for the average mathematics teacher.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL

STRONGLYDISAGREE DISAGREE

34. Mathematics teachers in my school are able to judge how well our mathematicsdepartment is doing.

STRONGLY STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE DISAGREE

35. Mathematics teachers hold their own in discussions with business and universitymathematicians.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL

STRONGLYDISAGREE DISAGREE

36. Mathematics teachers consider themselves as teachers more so than as mathematicians.

STRONGLY STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE DISAGREE

31. In practice, mathematics teachers are the ones who determine what is actually taughtin the courses they teach.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL

STRONGLYDISAGREE DISAGREE

38. Mathematics teachers believe they have the control that they should have over theireveryday work.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL

STRONGLYDLSAGREE DISAGREE

39. Mathematics teachers feel that the public does not realize the contribution thatmathematics teachers make to society.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL

STRONGLYDISAGREE DISAGREE

40. Mathematics teachers feel they have an important contribution to make in discussionswith business and university mathematicians.

STRONGLYAGREE.=1701.11MMrli

AGREE NEUTRALSTRONGLY

DISAGREE DISAGREE

(Please turn the page.)

156

41. Mathematics teachers think that they should be evaluated only by other mathematicsteachers.

STRONGLY STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE DISAGREE

42. Mathematics teachers make decisions about their everyday work.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL

STRONGLYDISAGREE DISAGREE

43. I think district administrators hould have the final responsibility for whatis taught in school mathematic s.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL

STRONGLYDLSAGREE DISAGREE

44. I teach because I enjoy mathematics.

STRONGLY STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE DISAGREE

45. Mathematics teachers are the most appropriate people to make decisions about methodsof mathematics instruction.

STRONGLYAGREE

STRONGLYAGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE DISAGREE

46. I believe that because of the degree of specialized knowledge required inteaching mathematics, only mathematics teachers are competent to judge how wellother mathematics teachers do their work.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL

STRONGLYDISAGREE DISAGREE

47. I would stay in the teaching of mathemcitics even if my salary were reduced.

STRONGLY STRONGLY

AGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE DISAGREE

48. The collaborative has expanded my notion of what it means to be a mathematicsteacher.

STRONGLY STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE DISAGREE

49. I make my own decisions in regard to my everyday work.

STRONGLYAGREE AGREE NEUTRAL

STRONGLYDISAGREE DISAGREE

Please look at each page to check thatyou have circled a response for each item.

1 r;

THANK YOU!

This is the final written survey that you will be asked to complete for ti e UMC

Documentation Project. We greatly appreciate your time and effort in helping us gather the

necessary infciaation to document the development of the Urban Mathematics Collaborative

Project. The information that you have shared with us will not only help us to better

undentand the UMC Project, but will assist others in their efforts to document similar projects

in the future.

APPENDIX E

Demographic Survey 1989-90

159

I3EST COPY AVAILABLE

Ford Foundation UMC DocumentationWisconsin Center for Education Research1025 West Johnson Street, Madison, WI 53706 (608) 263-4282

DEMOGRAPHIC SURVEY 1989-90

Please provide the following information for the

PART 1 General1. Population of metropolitan area served by the school district in 1989-00

2. Name of 'Superintendent

3. Number of years in position

4. Number of members on thc &-.:hool board

PART 11 District Budget Information1. Tota) district expenditures for the 1989-90 school year

2. PrOjected district budget for the 1990-91 school year

3. Percent of district budget funding from following sources.

PART HI School CompositionI. Number of schools in the district

2. Breakdown:

No. Senior High Schools

No. Junior High Schools

No. Middle Schools

No. Elementary Schools

No. Magnet or special design

No. Other (please specify)

3. What percentage of students in your district

attended private/parochial schools in 1989-90?

Has this percentage increased/ decreased since 1988-89?

Page 1 of 5

160

June 1990

a) Federal

b) State

c) Local

d) Other

(Grade range to

(Grade range to

(Grade range to )

(Grade range to

(Grade range to

PART IV Teacher Profiles (Please provide frequency and percentage when available.)

High Junior Middle ElementarySchool High School School TOTALM / F M / F M / F M / F M / F

I. Number of teachers 4M../M r:1111 *2. Ethnicity (all teachers):

White (Number) AMMEIMIM IMOIMIO AUNIMMIIM ..410.8

(Percent) !WM.I.ft 1MM.

Black (Number)

(Percent) % % % %

Spanish-Hispanic origin

(Number) MMI AMMI Am

(Percent) % % % %

Asian or Pacific Islander

(Number) eWPMAN MO. M.MMM1 1(Percent)

Indian (American)

(Number) a aMr .1 .1 eaMM. =0.

(Percent) %

Other (Number) IM0 111 I1Y M Si(Percent) % %

3. Number of teachers who

teach mathematics

4. Ethnicity (teachers of mathematics):

White (Number) WMO alMIMINN

(Percent) % % %

Black (Number)

(Percent) AMMINM MNIMMOM

Spanish-Hispanic origin

(Number)

(Percent) % %

Asian or Pacific Islander

(Number)

(Percent) 01Indian (American)

(Number)

(Percent) % _% %

Other (Number) ___

(Percent) % % %

P2ge 2 of

Ford Foundation UMC Demographic Survey

5. Salary:

a. What was the salary minimum in 1989-90 for teachers?

What was the degree/certification requirement for this salary?

b. What was the salary maximum in 1989-90 for teachers?

What was the degree/certification requirement for this salary?

c. What was the average teacher salary in 1989-90?

d. What was the average mathematics teachersalary in 1989-90?

e. How many mathematics teachers have tenure: High School

Junior High

Middle School

f. How many paid in-service days per teacher were there during

the 1989-90 school year? (If this varies by subject area, please

specify for mathematics teachers.) High School

Junior High

Middle School

Elementary

g. What are the number of days of the 1989-90

school year for teachers? days

6. Contract Negotiations:

a. What was the status of teacher contract/negotiations during 1989-90?

b. When was the current contract approved? Month/ Year

c. What period of time does the current contract cover?

d. What is the name of the teachers' union?

From tomo/yr mo/yr

e. What percentage of teachers are members?

f. Which organization does the bargaining for the district teachers?

Page 3 of 5

PART V Student Information1. What is the pupil:teacher ratio? High School

Junior High

Middle School

Elementary

High Junior Middle ElementarySchool High School School TOTALM / F M / F M / F M / F M / F

2. Number of students PM. ..MIIIM .. MMalNIM

3. Ethnicity:

White (Number) _ _ _(Percent) % % % % %_ -- _ _

Black (Number) _ -- _ _(Percent) % % % % %OIMI. IIML =, 1.1

Spanish-Hispanic origin

(Number)

(Percent) % % % % %emob ....Asian or Pacific Islander

(Number) _ _ _(Percent) % % % % %__ __ _ _

Indian (American)

(Number) _(Percent) % % % % %_ _ _ _ _

Other (Number) _...__... .121 .(Percent) % % % % %-- ...-- _ _.

4. Number of students who have

English as a second language

5. Number of students whose fatinlies

receive AFDC all.10/...

6. Number of students in government-

funded lunch program

7. What is the student dropout rate

How is it computed

-*mg...N.M. ..

_I1611

-

- - -

8. How many high school students were enrolleu

in mathematics courses during 1988-89?

Page 4 of 5

1. t1, ( )4)

(Number)

%

Ford Foundation UMC Demographic Survey

9. What are the mathematics requirements for high school graduation?

10. What percentage of the students go on to postsecondary education?

11. Please list the mean score or percentile for thd most important test administert. strict-wide in

grades 9-12, during 1989-90. (If the scores from 1989-90 are not available, please list scores from

1988-89.)

Circle Name of Test: CAT SAT ACT CTBS Other

Date Administered Mo.

Grade Level Verbal Quantitative Overall

Grade 9

Grade 10

Grade 11

Grade 12

Yr.

12. If a second test was administered district-wide in grades 9-12, please report the results below.

Circle Name of Test: CAT SAT ACT CTBS Other

Date Administered Mo. Yr.

Grade Level Verbal Quantitative Overall

Grade 9

t.rade 10

Grade 11

Grade 12

Please return the completed survey in the envelopeprovided to:Dr. Norman WebbUMC Documentation ProjectWisccnsin Center for Education Research1025 W. Johnson StreetMadison, WI 53706

Page 5 of 5

=l'IDU.S. Dept. of Education

Office of EducationalResearch and Improvement (0ERI)

AO%II IImm I iiDate Filmed

August 9, 1992